RWBY: Remnant's Crimson Reaper
by ShadeAkami
Summary: In Remnant, everyone loses something dear to them at some point or another. However, the boy named Garnet suffered many such losses at an early age. Those losses changed him, but also made him stronger. However, while he can take care of himself just fine, what will he do when the enemies begin to target the few things he cares about, to get to him? (OCxHarem) (Fairly OP OC)
1. Chapter 0

Chapter 0: Prologue

 **Remnant.**

 **A dangerous place. Particularly for man.**

 **For as long as man has roamed the surface of Remnant, so have the creatures of Grimm. A ravenous, destructive force that covers the majority of Remnant. These wicked beasts, serve as mankind's greatest foe. While not much is known about the creatures of Grimm, some key factors have been observed in the wild. The most important thing, is that the Grimm exclusively attack humans, and their creations. While Grimm do not need to feed, especially on humans…**

 **They choose to, regardless.**

 **Another, unsettling, thing about Grimm, is the basis of their attraction. Grimm seem to be drawn in, by negative emotions.**

 **There are** **rare instances, where nomad villages are able to defend themselves from a wave of Grimm. However, that does not mean their survival, is guaranteed. The wide spread panic, will ultimately only lead to more Grimm attacking the village.**

 **Unfortunately, not much else is known about Grimm.**

 **Keeping them captive, has proven quite a difficult task. The captive Grimm, will either die shortly after it's capture, or most commonly, it will kill those who caught it in the first place.** **Playing with fire at it's finest...**

 **Further complicating study, is the fact that the corpse of Grimm, will only remain for a brief period of time, before evaporating into nothing.**

 **Most upsetting, for those who hunt Grimm for sports...Playing with fire again I see….But it's not a complete lost cause. Cheap, taxidermic recreations work just fine, for keeping the ego intact.**

 **That and...bombastic, storytelling… How that man never runs out of air is beyond me….**

 **Ahem.**

 **To some, the creatures of Grimm appear to be mindless beasts, their primal instinct being the source of their obsession with destroying mankind. However, studies have shown that, while younger Grimm seem to be more reckless and prone to attack, older Grimm, who have survived their encounter with capable humans, have learned from their mistakes. They will be more cautious in the future, thus turning them into an even deadlier force.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **However.**

 **While Grimm, have been and will continue to be, mankind's greatest foe, the past shows that, for a time…**

 **Humanity itself was it's own** **worst** **enemy** **.**

 **Throughout the course of history, countless civilizations rose to power, and fell from grace just as quickly. Inner skirmishes, being their ultimate demise.**

 **However, of those civilizations, four have managed to withstand the test of time.**

 **Vale.**

 **Vacuo.**

 **Mistral.**

 **And Atlas, formerly know as 'Mantle'.**

 **These four kingdoms, with the help of natural barriers and human intervention, have prove** **n** **that they have the will to survive.**

 **Where there's a will, there's a way. That's what they say, isn't it?**

 **It would be just fine, if everyone had but one will, right? Unfortunately, that's not the case.**

 **Where there is a will, there is also, an ideal. But, as it's with most things, different ideals are bound to clash. And when ideals clash, it's only a matter of time…**

 **Before conflict breaks out.**

 **Relations between Kingdoms had been strained for centuries. However, it didn't mean they were at each others throat the entire time.**

 **With some help from Mantle, the emperor of Mistral had managed to conquer almost everything the continent of Anima had to offer. Thus, an alliance between Mistral and Mantle had been formed. Mistral would supply Mantle with resources that weren't available in Mantle's snowy tundra, and Mantle would help Mistral with technological advances. However...**

 **Due to an unknown event in Mantle, an unusual decree was placed.**

 **The abolishment of self-expression. People of Mantle thought that** **they would be much more safe from Grimm, if they kept the emotions of the masses in check. Remember what I said about** **wills and** **different ideals?**

 **Many assumed that Mistral, having a strong, artistic culture, would end the alliance with Mantle. They were wrong.**

 **The emperor of Mistral, complied. However, the decree was only put in function through the outer territories of Mistral, while the central territory could live as it pleased. A bunch of jackasses in those times…**

 **Nevertheless, it seemed Vale thought along the same lines...Then again, Vale had a lot of problems with what Mistral and Mantle had been up to.**

 **It wasn't long, before Mistral** **decided to place a settlement on the continent of Sanus. A continent Vale and Vacuo shared. Yet again, ideals clashed, as Vale sought to occupy the same land as Mistral. Tensions rose, and while the king of Vale thought they could solve the problem without bloodshed, his people thought otherwise.**

 **It's unknown as to who struck first, but it sparked the first battle, of what would come to be known, as the Great War.**

 **Long story short, it was Mistral and Mantle, vs Vale and Vacuo. Vacuo had originally stayed out of the conflict, but due to pressuring from Mistral and Mantle, who had settled the continent years prior, Vacuo decided to join Vale and drive Mantle and Mistral out of the Kingdom. The reason being, that if Vale fell, there would be nothing to keep Mantle and Mistral from conquering Vacuo. A smart decision.**

 **After ten years of** **war** **, the King of Vale** **himself** **joined the battle, and singlehandedly laid waste to the enemy forces. That would be the final, bloodiest battle of the war. After the war, the leaders of the Kingdoms were ready to bow to the King of Vale. The king refused, however, and allowed them to return to governing their Kingdoms, on the condition that they do not start conflict with each other ever again. This rule, was set in place on the island of Vytal. Now, every two years, Hunt** **sman** **and Huntresses from every Kingdom gather** **on the island of Vytal, for the Vytal Festival,** **to share their culture and test their own strength with each othe** **r.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **Oh yeah. I forgot…**

 **After the Great War, the King of Vale built four academies in each Kingdom. Their purpose was to train young warrior** **s** **into becoming Huntsmen and Huntresses, whose sole purpose was to fight Grimm, and protect those who can't protect themselves.**

 **Haven was founded in Mistral,**

 **Shade was founded in Vacuo,**

 **Atlas was founded in the now defunct Kingdom of Mantle,**

 **And finally, Beacon was founded in Vale.**

 **The academies accept graduates from primary combat school** **s** **, to prepare them further for combating Grimm, and protect their fellow** **humans** **. Within the academy, students are placed in a four man team. This serves to strengthen and improve communication, empathy, and teamwork. All the necessary skills, needed to become a Huntsman.**

 **The** **four** **academies, serve as beacons of hope** **for Humanity. The ultimate stand, against the creatures of Grimm. But…**

 **As I have learned over the years, nothing will last forever.** **Teams will eventually grow apart, or be killed off. Huntsmen may stray from their purpose, and selfishly follow their own goals. Academies may become corrupt...** **It is only a matter of time, until** **one** **of these beacons falls…**

 **And it's anyone's guess, as to how severe of a blow it will be, to mankind…**

 **So? Did that little history lesson, put you up to speed? If yes, then let's get on with the** **actual** **story, shall we?**

 **Our story, begins in the city of Vale…**

It was during a late night.

The full moon was high in the night sky, providing a decent amount of light through the dimly lit alleys of the city.

 ***tap* *tap***

In the dead silence, footsteps could be heard. It wasn't loud, but they were certainly there.

A tall young man was currently making his way through the back alleys. Not much was visible about him, as he wore a maroon colored cloak that covered his body and a hood that covered the majority of his face.

However enough could be seen to confirm that the person was indeed a male.

He was currently making his way through the alleys of Vale, walking at a leisurely peace and occasionally glancing around him. It was as if he was searching for something.

But it didn't take long for the man to stop in front of a shady looking building.

The building didn't look too different than the rest, however something about it seemed off.

Curiously, the man walked over to the large wooden door, and gave it a light push.

 ***click***

Surprisingly, the door opened with a sharp click, allowing him to take a peak inside.

The hallway in front of him was barren. However, the giant red doors at the end of the hallway, coupled with the muffled music coming from behind them, made a light smirk form on the young man's face.

As he walked forward, the music became louder and more clear.

Once in front of the red doors, he gave a strong push and was immediately greeted by loud music and bright flashing lights, causing the man to avert his eyes and take a moment to adjust to the new surroundings.

Once he did, he raised his head and glanced down at the dancefloor below him. He saw quite a number of people getting their groove on, as well a number of imposing looking bodyguards situated around the room.

He then glanced to the side, where he saw a small bar situated a little distance away from the dance floor.

There, was a rather tall man with short black hair and a beard, wearing a suit, talking to someone wearing a white coat and a black bowler hat. Behind the tall man were two attractive young girls, one with long black hair wearing a white dress, and the second with short black hair wearing a red dress.

However, the chat between the two men seemed rather short lived, as the one with the bowler hat left the room with a few of the bodyguards, while the man behind the bar began cleaning some of the glasses left on the bar.

Seeing this, the cloaked man began walking down the stairs to his left, heading toward the bar.

As he did, the two girls noticed him approaching and glanced at him cautiously. After all, someone hiding themselves behind a large coat isn't the most reassuring sight.

In a few moments, the young man had reached the bar and sat down on one of the chairs without saying anything. His hood still covered most of his face, so the two girls were still eyeing him cautiously.

"Hmm?"

The man behind the counter saw this and glanced up, raising an eyebrow at the new figure sat in front of him.

"Can I help you...sir?" he asked, confusion and a little bit of uncertainty apparent in his voice.

The young man remained silent for a moment, before glancing up and revealing a gleaming crimson eye. His right eye remained hidden under his long black hair, however his left eye was in full view now.

"I'd be pleased if you can." the man spoke, his voice deep and smooth. The two girls opened their eyes in mild surprise at the young man's voice, but didn't show anything else. "Are you the one called 'Junior'?"

The man seemed surprised for a moment, but gave a short nod.

"That's my nickname, yeah. Why?"

"Ah, great! I have a few things I'd like to ask you Junior. Would you mind indulging me over a little drink?"

The young man showed a slight smile and spoke in a laid back tone, but Junior glanced at him with a calculating look.

It was clear he was suspicious, but in the end, he released a short sigh and grabbed a nearby chair.

"Alright. Anything I can get you?"

At Junior's question, the man waved his hand dismissively, showing a brown glove with leather straps going all the way to his elbow.

"Surprise me."

At the simple answer, junior raised an eyebrow. But he didn't question it, as he saw this as a good opportunity to see what this man really wanted. And what better way then to get him drunk and talking.

Thus, Junior swiftly grabbed a bottle from the drink rack behind him, as well as two glasses and placed them on the table. He then poured the liquid from the bottle into the glasses and slid one of them over to the man.

He raised an eyebrow upon seeing the drink, glancing up at Junior with a tiny smirk.

"Martini huh? Haven't had this in a while." the man gave a short nod before grabbing the glas and taking a sip.

Grabbing his own glass, Junior took a proper swig of the drink, almost downing the entire thing, before setting his sights on the man in front of him.

"Alright then. What do you want to talk about?"

"I hear rumors about you. Saying that you are quite knowledgeable, about the...shadier business going down in Vale. Is that true?" the man asked, observing his drink as he moved his glass in circular motions.

Junior looked at him for a second, before replying.

"Maybe I do. Maybe I don't. Depends on who is asking..." Junior's eyes narrowed slightly toward the end, causing the young man to chuckle.

"Fufu, cautious now are we? I understand. I don't like being asked such questions either. However...this is quite the serious matter. I'd appreciate it if would cooperate, and answer my questions truthfully.

Although the man said that in a completely laid back tone, Junior could feel a certain intensity behind those words. It was as if there was a dark presence behind him, gripping his whole body. And something about the man's smile was also unsettling.

Junior's gut was telling him it would be wise to follow the given instructions, and Junior listened to it.

"...I...Yeah, I know about some of the things going on behind the scenes. But don't think I'm some sort of computer. I don't know everything, and what I do know is gonna cost you."

"Heh. I expected as much." the man released a short chuckle. "Then, I need your help in finding someone."

"Who are you looking for? I'll tell you if I have info on them or not."

At Junior's prompt, the young man took out a photo and slid it unto the counter.

Glancing at it, Junior saw the same man with the bowler hat from before. And surprise showed on his face for a slip second, before reverting back to his usual stoic expression.

"Roman Torchwick."

"...Sorry, I don't know anything about the guy."

Junior lied, and he knew it full well. However, he simply could not divulge info on this man, as that would put his own safety at risk.

Looking at his cup, the man's voice turned to disappointment.

"I thought I told you it was in your best interest to be honest Junior. Lying won't get you anywhere..."

"I'm not lying" Junior said blankly. "I don't know anything about the guy."

The man grabbed his drink, and took another sip. Then, releasing a heavy sigh, he mumbled to himself.

"Looks like we're doing this the old fashioned way..."

Although it was nothing more than a passive mumble, Junior and the two girls caught it and got ready for a confrontation.

They then watched as the man placed his glass back on the counter and grasped his hood, which had been on the entire time.

Then, his pulled it back slightly, revealing his face fully, before opening his left eye fully.

[-!] As he did, Junior and the girls saw that his eye was glowing red and now had black circle split into three parts.

And they made the mistake of looking directly into it.

Within a second, the whole world turned negative with shades of red. Junior could still feel the world around him, but couldn't move his body at all. He was stuck staring at the man's eye. And he could feel him staring all the way into his soul.

Junior soon began feeling his mind going blank, feeling as if someone was looking right inside his head. And as soon as everything happened, the world returned to normal.

Stumbling back slightly, the three managed to catch themselves from dropping to the ground, releasing slight pants.

As they got their bearings together, they heard the man speak again.

"Looks like you weren't telling the truth after all Junior. You do know some things about Torchwick."

Looking back up, Junior saw the man take another sip of his drink, as if nothing had happened. Still in slight shock, he spoke.

"W-Wha...What was that?"

"..." the man didn't answer at first, staring into his red colored drink.

 ***ccrack!***

Then, a crack suddenly appeared in the glass, surprising Junior and the girls.

"You see, I can be very persuasive when I want to, Junior. What you just experienced was one of the small tricks I have, in order to get people to comply with my requests. But don't worry, you're perfectly fine. Maybe a little lightheaded, but that should be the extent of it."

 ***open-!***

At the exact moment the man finished his sentence, the entrance doors opened, causing him to glance back at the newcomer.

There, he saw a beautiful young girl with long wild blonde hair and lilac eyes, making her way toward the bar.

"Another one..." the man heard Junior sigh, igniting an inaudible chuckle.

Within a few moments, the girl reached the bar and sat herself down next to the man.

"A Strawberry Sunrise please. With no ice. And with the little umbrella~" she ordered, as Junior cocked an eyebrow.

"Aren't you a little young to be in a club, Blondie?"

"Aren't you a little old to be called 'Junior'?"

"Heh. She got you there~" the man chuckled at the exchange, causing Junior to grumble while starting to make the girl's drink, while the girl herself glanced at the young man next to her curiously.

"Why hello there~ You are?" there was little sensual undertone in her voice, something that amused the man.

"Just a guy out on a little night walk."

"In a club?" she raised a knowing eyebrow.

"I've been in worse places. But what about you? What brings a young girl like you in these parts?"

The girl gave a brief pause, before answering.

"I'm..looking for someone."

"Does that someone happen to have long black hair, a kimono and goes by the name of Raven?"

"-! How do you-?!"

At the man's answer, shock appeared on the girl's face.

"If you're looking for her, you're wasting your time. You won't find her unless she wants you to. It's always been like that."

Finishing his sentence, the man also finished his drink and took out some Lien, which he placed on the counter.

"Thanks for the help and the drink. Later."

"Hey wait a second-!"

As he turned to leave, the blonde stood up and tried to stop him, but was momentarily distracted when Junior all but slammed her drink on the table, causing her to take her eyes off the man for a brief moment.

"-!" however, in that brief moment, the man disappeared entirely from the room.

While the blonde stared dumbfounded at where the man used to stand, the two girls behind the counter began whispering to each other.

"Did you see that Miltia?" the one in the white dress asked.

"I did Melanie. He just, burst into feathers and vanished." the girl in red clothes answered, a certain degree of amazement in her voice.

"Damn...looks like the rumors may be true after all. That guy..."

Hearing Junior's voice snapped the blonde girl out of her staring, and she turned back to him.

"Do you know that guy?"

"No. But if he's what the rumors are talking about, then I'm glad he left."

"Rumors?" Melanie asked from the sidelines.

"There are rumors I heard on and off from criminals. Stories about something targeting evil doers. Apparently, if you see black feathers around, it means that that something is heading your way. I never believed in those stories. Always thought it was just thugs making up stories to keep others from stealing their stuff, but...that couldn't have been a coincidence..."

Hearing this, the young girl's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Does this 'something' have a name?"

Junior shook his head.

"None that I know of. It only has a floating nickname, given by criminals who supposedly encountered it and lived to tell the tale."

"And that nickname is…?"

"Apparently, people refer to it as...a Grim Reaper."

"And you think that guy was this 'Grim Reaper'?"

"I dunno. But I've never seen him before, and the vibe he gave off wasn't exactly pleasant either. If there's anything close to the Grim Reaper, it may very well be that guy."

With that, the blonde seemed to fall deep in thought.

' _That guy...He might know where my mother is. So far, he's given me a clue not even my family could. I need to find him again!"_

Walking along the streets of Vale, yet again, was our cloaked man. His eye had now returned to it's crimson red color and the black ring disappeared.

' _So Roman is planning a Dust heist tonight, eh?'_ the man thought, remembering what he got out of Junior. _'Looks like I have to hurry...'_

And without any other delay, the man's body once again burst into a bunch of black feathers, from which a medium sized Jackdaw appeared. The bird then took to the sky, heading into the direction of the shopping center.

 **And that's it for the prologue!**

 **I tried making it like the 'Trailer' episodes, to keep the tradition.**

 **So, hello~! Welcome to my new story!**

 **I've had this idea in mind head for quite a while. I was just looking for a way to start things off. And this is the best I came up with...Please bear with me on this journey.**

 **As the name suggests, this was only a prologue. Gave a bit of a backstory for the series, and introduced my character. ...Introduced, not presented. That will be next chapter.**

 **Right off the bat, things will eventually take a rather AU-ish turn. It will still stay pretty true to the original material, however. Also, note that this story will include elements from other anime series. The most obvious presented in this chapter, was Naruto. You all most likely knew right off the bat. There will also be elements from One Piece (again, shown briefly in this chapter) and Bleach. Reason for that, is because I feel these series, sort of resonate with each other. The concept of 'Aura' can be applied to all three. So yeah. Those are the main three series, whose concepts will be appearing in this story.**

 **Edit: 31/01/19**

 **And here is where the new part of the Author's note comes in~**

 **As you can see, I'm bringing this story back with new stuff. I feel like I've gotten better at writing ever since I first started this story originally, and since I'm in a RWBY phase again, I decided to rewrite the original chapters on this story and possibly continue it.**

 **I can't make any promises, but I will try to bring this story further than just the original three chapters, minus this prologue.**

 **And yeah, as you can see, this chapter is a little different than before. Fixed some dialogue, along with some other writing related stuff and changed the encounters up a bit.**

 **Unlike originally, Yang actually showed up and with that, her quest to find our mysterious cloaked protagonist in order to learn about Raven has commenced!**

 **This is primarily so we can have some one on one with Yang and the protagonist in the future~**

 **Some of you may be familiar with this story. Originally named RWBY: Remnant's Reaper, I deleted it because of some personal things, but I've decided to bring it back. The other 3 chapters will be posted in the upcoming days, once I've sorted them out a bit. After that, I'll try to update this whenever I can.**

 **But please don't expect weekly updates. Every two weeks would be the best case scenario, but it could even take more than that. Please bear with me.**

 **And before I go, this was originally a Harem story, and it will remain like that but I've decided to shorten the 20+(?) girl harem and limit it to five girls.**

 **Those girls are Glynda (the Cougar love interest) Winter (the same age love interest) Blake and Velvet (the young love) and another final spot for your choosing. Yang, Ruby and/or Raven are not available. You'll know why in future chapters.**

 **You can vote, you can leave it up to me, which ever you want.**

 **And that was enough from me. Hope you enjoyed this new version of the prologue, tell me what you thought of it, and I'll see y'all in the next chapters.**

 **Seeya~**


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The new arrivals

* * *

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **Hm?**

 **Oh, it's you again. Welcome back.**

 **Since we're here, how about another little history lesson? Let me tell you about the first people to roam Remnant.**

 **Don't worry, I'll keep this brief.**

 **Ahem.**

 **Man, originally born from dust, was strong, wise and resourceful. However, he was born into a cruel and unforgiving world. As soon as man came to be, an inevitable darkness had lured over him.**

 **Remember the creatures of Grimm? They had set their sights on man and all of his creations.**

 **And soon enough, the two forces clashed. But the darkness seemed intent on extinguishing man's short and fragile existence in the world. Fortunately…**

 **Even the smallest glimmer of hope, is enough to ignite change. And in time, man's passion, resourcefulness and ingenuity led him to the power he needed to even the odds.**

 **This power was appropriately named 'Dust'.**

 **And with nature's wrath in hand, man managed to light his way through the darkness. And in the darkness' absence, came strength, civilization…**

 **And life.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **Unfortunately, even the most brilliant of lights are bound to eventually flicker and die-**

" **And when they are gone, darkness is bound to return."**

 **Huh?**

" **So you may prepare your guardians...build your monuments to a so-called free world, but take heed...There will be no victory in strength."**

 **Now hold on-**

" **But perhaps victory isn't in strength. It may be in the simpler things you seem to have long forgotten. Things that require a smaller, more honest soul."**

 **Alright you two, break it up. This is my narration. Get out.**

*a door opens and closes, before the sound of someone plopping in a chair is heard*

 **Well, since they brought their lovers quarrel over here, I gotta go find another quiet place for this.**

 **I'll continue the next time we meet.**

 **Until then…**

* * *

As night befell the city of Vale, each of it's shops had begun to close it's door.

Except for a small dust shop called 'From Dust till Dawn'. This shop was still open, even though there were only two people currently inside.

The owner, an elderly gray-haired man with wrinkles under his eyes and over his brow, wearing a green shirt and a red apron.

The old man was situated behind the counter at the front entrance, while the other person inside was a ways off, reading some magazines in a back corner of the shop.

 ***click***

Everything was quiet, until the door to the shop opened.

A man accompanied by multiple goons in black suits entered the shop. This man had bright orange hair and green eyes. He wore a red-lined white suit with long black pants and black shoes, a small gray scarf, black gloves with buckled sleeves, and a black bowler hat with a small feather tucked into its red band. The man also had a cane in hand, and was currently smoking a cigar.

This was Roman Torchwick, an infamous criminal.

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a Dust shop opened this late?" Roman took a puff of his cigar, before addressing the old man behind the counter.

Said man quickly raised his hands in the air, and spoke in a shaky voice.

"P-Please! Just take the Lien and leave!"

"Shhh. We're not here for your money." Roman spoke calmly, before turning to his goons and motioning to the Dust Storage behind the old man.

"Grab the Dust."

His henchmen didn't need another order and got to work.

One of them brought out a suitcase and placed it on the counter. Then, they all grabbed a couple of cylindrical jars and went to collect the Dust.

Meanwhile another goon placed a container in front of the shopkeep.

"Crystals. Burn, uncut."

The shopkeep immediately handed the henchman a couple of red colored crystal from the glass display.

As that was happening, one of Roman's henchmen moved around through one of the isles in the back of the shop, where he began hearing faint music.

Following the sound, he came upon a short person wearing a red hood, peacefully reading magazines.

"Alright kid, put your hand where I can see 'em."

"..."

The goon's order fell on deaf ears, as the person didn't move an inch. This cause a vein to appear on the goons forehead.

"Hey, I said hands in the air!"

"..."

"Grr, you got a death wish or something?!"

 ***grab***

Getting fed up, the goons stomped over and grabbed the person hood and yanked it down.

With it, he revealed a cute young girl with short black hair ending in red tips, pale complexion and big silver eyes. She also had a pair of headphones on.

"Huh?" the girl released a confused sound, looking up at the henchman. Said henchman gestured for her headphones, which she took off. "Yes?"

"I said put your hands in the air, now!" the goon exclaimed.

The girl merely tilted her head to the side, looking at the goon curiously.

"Are you...robbing me?"

"Yes!" the exasperation couldn't be clearer in the man's voice.

However, the young girl merely narrowed her eyes slightly while gaining a small smirk.

Back by the counter, Roman was currently admiring one of the red crystals the shopkeep gave him.

"Hey!"

"Hyah!

 ***CRASH-!***

However, he was interrupted when one of his henchmen whizzed past his head before crashing face first into the back wall.

Roman merely glanced at the man, before motioning for another one of his goons to take care of whatever the problem was.

So the man rushed over to where the young girl was and pointed his weapon at her.

"Freeze!"

.

.

 ***CRASH-!* *shatter***

However, it didn't take more than a few moments for this goon to be sent flying through the shop's glass panes, landing on the street unconscious.

 ***tap***

And following right behind him, was the girl clad in red who gracefully landed next to the downed goon.

* * *

Going outside, Roman and the rest of his goons looked on as the girl unfurled a giant mechanical scythe, before she stabbed it into the ground gave Roman a challenging smirk.

"Okayyy..." Roman started, before looking at the goons. "Get her!"

His henchmen didn't hesitate and rushed outside with their weapons ready, surrounding the young girl.

The first goon to attack used his sword for a downward slash, which the girl dodged by using her scythe as a ledge before spinning around and planting her face in the man's face to send him packing. Using her momentum, she ripped the scythe out of the ground and landed in a battle stance.

When one of the guys went to attack her, she pulled the trigger on the scythes handle, firing a powerful round which made her spin very fast and with the built up momentum she slammed her scythe into the attacking henchman.

This sent him fling over several rooftops, passing by a Jackdaw that was conveniently perched on an antenna that gave a perfect view of the current fight.

Back to the actual fight, the girl used her scythe as a blunt object once more, slamming it against the side of a goons head and sending him flying as well.

As a third goon raised his gun, she she fired her own rounds and managed to avoid the bullets just in time. She did this two more times, before using her own speed and momentum to knock the guy out with the blunt side of her weapon.

The goon was knocked back, landing conveniently right at Roman's feet.

The man glanced at the unconscious goon and lightly shook his head.

"You were worth every cent. Truly, you were." he then looked up at the young girl. "Well, Red, I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening," he threw his cigar on the ground and used his cane to put it out. "-and as much as I'd love to stick around..." then the cane raised, to reveal a gun barrel pointed directly at the girl. "..I'm afraid this is where we part ways."

 ***BANG***

Fortunately, the girl managed to avoid Roman's shot by propelling herself in the air with the use of her own gun. But as she landed back on the ground, she saw Roman was gone.

However, a simply head turn was enough for the girl to spot Roman trying to climb a ladder to make a getaway on the rooftops.

She then turned to the old shopkeep who was now standing at the door.

"Mind if I go after him?"

receiving a short nod, the girl used her massive scythe to fling herself on the rooftops after Roman.

"Hey!" she shouted, making the ginger stop in his tracks.

"Persistent..." Roman grumbled, the girl assuming a battle stance, scythe at the ready.

 ***WHOOSH-***

At that moment, a humongous airship lifted itself in the air right in front of Roman. The sudden appearance surprised the young girl.

Roman quickly got on the ship and looked back at the girl as the bullhead raised itself into the air.

"End of the line, Red!"

Roman brought out one of the crystals he stole from the shop before and threw it right at the girl's feet.

 ***BANG-!* *BOOM!***

He then proceeded to shoot the crystal which created a massive explosion right in the girls face.

"Wha-ho-ho!" Roman cheered, thinking the girl was dead.

* * *

However, he opened his eyes wide as the smoke cleared.

In front of the girl now stood a bespectacled blonde haired woman with green eyes and a cape, holding a riding crop in her hand.

She had saved the child, by erecting a purple barrier of sorts.

"Hm.." the woman hummed in thought for a brief moment.

She then turned to the bullhead and, with a wave of her riding crop, she sent multiple blasts towards the ship. This caused the aircraft to shake violently, almost causing Roman to fall off.

He then rushed to the pilot's cabin.

"We've got a Huntress!"

Without hesitation, the pilot, which was a woman in a red dress with a golden pattern quickly stood up and left, leaving Roman to take care of piloting the Bullhead.

Back on the roof top, the blonde Huntress gained a purple glow on her body as she sent forth an energy blast into the night sky.

Within moments, dark cloud formed above the ship, causing Roman to look around confused.

"The hell…?"

Back outside, the Huntress waved her crop downwards which made a couple of giant ice spike fall down and nail themselves into the ship, almost stabbing Roman as well.

Then, the woman in the red dress appeared at the ships entrance. Her face was being covered by the shadows, but her bright amber eyes remained visible.

Igniting flames in her hand, the woman sent a fire blast towards the Huntress, which was was blocked with ease.

But as the cinders of the attack flew around the rooftop, the woman in the red dress waved her hand around which caused the cinders to ignite once more and explode, prompting both the Huntress and the young girl to jump back to safety.

The bespectacled Huntress then waved her riding crop once more, which gathered the debris from the explosion into a massive spear of sorts.

As the spear flew toward the aircraft, the mysterious woman launched a fire attack and shattered it, however it reformed right after and continued on it's war path which forced roman to maneuver the ship out of the way.

The spear dissolved, and formed into three new spears, all three ready to attack the ship again.

Knowing she didn't have time to destroy all three of them, the woman in the red dress conjured up rings of flames around her and released them as a blast wave which disintegrated the spears.

Back on the roof, the small girl turned her scythe into a high caliber rifle and began firing a couple of rounds at the woman on the ship.

However, she managed to block the shots using her hand alone. Then with another wave of her hand, the woman ignited multiple explosion rings and immediately afterward sent a fire blast at the two on the roof.

Thinking quickly, the Huntress used her riding crop to fling the young girl out of the blast radius while the huntress herself flipped out of harm's way.

But she was caught off guard by the second fire blast that heading for them. Fortunately, she didn't need to act.

 ***flare***

Within the blink of an eye, the fire blast was consumed by black flames which immediately dissolved into a bunch of black feathers that began floating down around the Huntress and the young girl.

Roman saw that the two became distracted and used this golden opportunity to turn the bullhead around and escape.

* * *

Back on the rooftop, the young girl watched as the black feathers seemingly danced around her with curious eyes, before she heard the faint sounds of footsteps coming from behind her.

"Thought you could use another Hunter's hand."

Hearing a smooth male voice, both women turned to see a tall young man making his way toward them.

If he hadn't spoken, the girl would have no way of knowing if it was really a man, as the large crimson coat he wore covered his body from head to toe while a black hood masked the man's face.

"Humpf-!"

The blonde Huntress was surprised at the arrival of this man, however in the end she simply crossed her arms over her generous bust and huffed.

The man released a chuckle, before he noticed that the young girl now appeared in between the two.

"You guys are Hunters!" her big silver eyes were currently glowing with glee and she quickly took out a notepad. "Can I have your autographs?!"

[…] The two Hunters stared at the girl for a brief moment, before glancing at each other.

"...You can deal with this."

The woman gestured toward the beaming girl.

The man nodded his head seriously, causing the girl's eagerness to recede slightly.

"Alrighty then, who will this awesome autograph be to, hmm? Little Red, or the Riding Hood?"

"-!"

However, both the girl and the Huntress were surprised when the man crouched down to the young girls level and took a pen out of nowhere.

"Oh! M-My name's Ruby Rose!" seeing she wasn't actually in trouble, the girl's glee returned and she even gained a few starts in her eyes.

"Right then! 'A very special thanks to the brave Ruby Rose, who-"

 ***SMACK-!***

"YEAOOW!"

"THIS IS NOT WHAT I MEANT YOU IDIOT!"

The man had actually begun signing an autograph for the young girl, before he was cracked over the head by a riding crop and consequently yelled at by the blonde Huntress.

"Fine then! You can deal with her~"

"Wait a sec-!"

 ***poof-!***

As he rubbed the top of his head, the man stuck his tongue out at the Huntress, before disappearing in a burst of black feathers.

"Wooahh.." the young girl stared in awe as the feathers began disintegrating right in front of her eyes.

"..." the Huntress on the other hand didn't look to pleased.

But in the end, she could only sigh.

* * *

A while later, the young girl was seated on a chair in a gray room. And the Huntress was currently lecturing her.

"I hope you realize that your actions tonight will not be taken lightly, young lady. You put yourself and others in great danger."

"They started it!"

"If it were up to me you would be sent home with a pat on the back..." the young girl gained a hopeful expression "...and a slap on the wrist!" however the hope disappeared, when the Huntress slammed her riding crop on the table, causing the girl to release an 'Eek!' while retracting her hand from the table in fear of getting her fingers slapped.

The Huntress then glanced at the door.

"But...there is someone who would like to meet you."

It was then that a man walked in. A middle-aged man with tousled silver hair and thin brown eyes. He had a light complexion and sharp facial features, wore shaded glass spectacles and a small, purple cross-shaped pin on the cowl around his neck.

His outfit mainly consisted of an unzipped black suit over a buttoned vest and green shirt. He also wore black trouser shoes and long dark-green pants.

In one hand, he carried a plate full of cookies while holding a coffee mug in the other hand.

"Ruby Rose.", was the man's short greeting. Going over to the table, he leaned down and looked at young girl's eyes. "You have...silver eyes."

"Um.."

"So." the man abruptly cut her off. "Where did you learn to do **this**?"

Glancing at the Huntress, he gestured toward video footage of young Ruby mopping the floor with Roman's henchmen.

"Uh..Signal Academy." Ruby's answer caused the man to raise an eyebrow.

"They taught you how to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?"

"Well, one teacher in particular."

"I see..."

The man then placed the plate of cookies on the table and slid it in front of Ruby.

She looked at the cookies before looking back at the man.

"Are these strawberry chip cookies?" she asked. The man gave a simple nod. "These are my favorites! How did you know?"

"A little bird told me."

Ruby then picked up a cookie, and quickly stuffed it in her mouth. Looking at the two adults, as if confirming it was really alright, she then began rapidly stuffing the cookies in her mouth as if there was no tomorrow.

The bespectacled man was amused by the sight, but continued talking normally.

"The reason I asked you, is because I've only seen two other scythe-wielders of this caliber. One of them happens to be an old dusty crow.:

"Mmm. Thash muh unkhul!"

[..?]

Ruby answered, however even she heard it came out as incoherent garble. So she swallowed the cookies in her mouth and repeated herself.

"Sorry, that's my uncle, Qrow. He's a teacher at Signal. I was complete garbage before he took me under his wing. And now I'm all like- Hoowaahhh! Wiatchaaa!"

"So I've noticed" the man gave a slight smile at the girl's antics. "And what is an adorable girl like yourself doing at a school built to train young warriors?" he asked, taking a seat opposite of Ruby.

"Well...I want to become a Huntress." Ruby said honestly.

"You want to slay monsters?"

"Yeah!" was Ruby's immediate answer. "I've only got two more years of training left at Signal. Then, I'm going to apply to Beacon! You see, my sister's starting there this year, and she's also trying to become a Huntress, and I'm trying to become a Huntress cuz' I wanna help people-" Ruby began talking and gesturing quite a lot. "-My parents always taught us to help others, so I thought 'Hey, I might as well make a career out of it right?' I mean the police are alright, but Huntsman and Huntresses are just so much more excitingandromanticandcoolandjustohmy- gosh, you know?!" with a final burst of air, Ruby finished her hyperactive ramblings.

[...]

While the woman was looking at the girl confused, the man subtly leaned over to her.

" _Looks like it runs in the family after all."_

He then turned back to Ruby.

"Do you know who I am?"

"You're Professor Ozpin. The Headmaster of Beacon."

"Hello."

"Nice to meet you."

With a small smile, Ozpin leaned over to the redhead.

"So you want to come to my school?"

"More than anything."

Hearing this, the gray haired man glanced back at his colleague.

"Glynda?"

"..Humpf!" the blonde gave a simple huff, causing Ozpin to release a silent chuckle before turning back to Ruby.

"...Welcome aboard Mrs. Rose."

This made Ruby's face to light up with glee, as big smile appearing on her face.

* * *

Ruby was allowed to return home shortly afterward.

Now, Ozpin and Glynda had returned to Beacon via Bullhead.

As the walked on school grounds, Ozpin suddenly stopped in his tracks. Glancing back, the bespectacled woman raised an eyebrow.

"Something wrong, professor Ozpin?"

 ***Caw-!***

"Looks like someone's returned..."

Ozpin took a sip of his drink as he stared up at the black jackdaw situated of the one of the lighting rods situated at various locations on the school.

He then watched as the bird spread it's wings and took off toward the school's tallest tower, which was also Ozpin's office.

"Looks like he brought news too."

"Or just another autograph..."

Hearing Glynda mumbling, Ozpin raised an eyebrow while giving the blonde a curious glance.

"Need to get something off your chest, Prof. Goodwitch?"

"No it's nothing. Just the usual antics."

"Fufufu. Come Glynda, a little bit of fun here and there never hurt. Let him act childish sometimes. After all...Those rare moments are the only time we get the see the old him."

"I know...I know."

A solemn silence befell the two for a while, before Ozpin began walking toward the school again.

"Let's be on our way. He's probably waiting for us already."

Ozpin then began walking towards the school with Glynda following close behind him.

Entering the school, the two adults walked the empty hallways for a few moments before coming to a halt in front of an escalator.

Stepping inside, the two were quickly brought to the top of the tower.

The doors opened to reveal the headmaster's office which in all honesty was just a massive lookout overseeing the campus with a medium sized desk in the middle of it.

The ceiling was probably the most curious sight as it consisted of many clock gears intertwining with each other. But none of them seemed to be moving at the moment.

Stepping inside the room, Ozpin and Glynda looked around but found absolutely no one.

"You guys sure took your time getting here."

However, a familiar smooth voice did resound through the room from no discernible location.

Ozpin and Glynda began walking toward the Headmaster's desk as Ozpin conversed with the unknown person.

"I'm afraid not all of us have been gifted with flight, Garnet."

"You know I wasn't gifted with this from the beginning either." the voice, now identified as Garnet, gave a barely audible chuckle.

Ozpin gave his own soft chuckle as he sat down in his chair, Glynda positioning herself a little distance away as she glanced around the room. The headmaster then took a sip of his drink before continuing the conversation.

"You're right, I haven't forgotten the child that used to run around the place all the time. But putting reminiscing aside for a moment, how did the mission go? I assume it was a breeze as usual?"

 ***shuffle* *shuffle***

"Well, not this time."

[-?]

Ozpin heard some shuffling in the cogs above his head, before Garnet's answer came. And when it did, both Hunters present raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? Did something go wrong?"

"No, but it's a good thing you sent me to deal with it. Anyone else would've been at a real risk of getting ripped apart by those things."

"Those things?" Ozpin's voice carried a hint of curiosity. "So the reports were correct? There were indeed mutant subjects being tested on?"

"Oh yeah. And those thing pack a mean punch."

Hearing that, Glynda glanced around the room once more before speaking.

"For you to to say something like that...Are you alright?" there was a hint of concern in the blonde's voice.

"I'm alive at least."

 ***tap* *tap***

This time, Garnet's voice came from one of the dark corner's of the room.

And from the shadows, the same cloaked man from before stepped out.

Walking into the moonlit middle of the room, he took off his hood and revealed his face fully.

He had medium length spiky black hair than ended in deep crimson streaks, a pale complexion and sharp facial features. His crimson left eye also seemingly glowed in the dim light, almost like a hawk's.

However, now that he was standing in better lighting, his appearance was visibly roughed up. This surprised both Glynda and Ozpin a considerable amount.

"Goodness gracious..."

Glynda almost immediately went over to the young man, beginning to give him a check up which caused a sweatdrop to appear on Garnet's face.

"Glynda, I'm fine. Stop."

"Fine? Look at you!" the blonde gestured at the now visible scratches and small bruises on Garnet's face. "These are the most injuries I've seen on you ever since you became a Hunter!"

 ***smack-***

"-OW!" to emphasize her point, Glynda gave Garnet a smack on the chest, putting barely any force behind it, which ignited a very real yelp of pain from Garnet.

She then grabbed his cloak and pulled it to the side to reveal three long gashes visible through Garnet's black jacket. Looking closer, there were other small wounds scattered around the young man's torso area.

She then looked up at Garnet with a stern expression.

"This is exactly what I mean! Don't walk around with wounds like these all nilly willy as if they're nothing!"

"But they **are** nothing. They'll be gone by tomorrow." Glynda's eyes narrowed slightly at Garnet's dismissive tone.

He then reached in his back pocket and pulled out a slick black scroll.

"Here." in a fluid motion, Garnet tossed the Scroll to Ozpin who caught it with ease. "The good ol' doctor had a self destruct button set up in case someone managed to bypass security and reach his research. That's all I managed to salvage."

"The facility?"

"Burnt to the ground."

"The test subjects?"

"I killed all the ones I came across but I don't know if there were others that could have escaped."

"I see...And the doctor?"

"He managed to escape when he activated the self destruct sequence in the lab. I tried to go after him but his damn lab critters swarmed me and gave him just enough time to get away."

During the conversation, Ozpin read through the contents of the scroll which he eventually placed on the table accompanied by a short sigh.

"It's most worrying that he escaped, especially while there's a chance some of his test subjects escaped as well. But at least neither will be an immediate threat, for now."

"I found him before and I can find him again. The mutants are quite different from the regular Grimm so they shouldn't be to hard to track down either. You just have to say the word."

Although Garnet's face displayed full willingness to continue his mission, Ozpin had different plans.

"It's fine. As long as you destroyed the majority of the mutant subjects, there's no need to rush."

"Are you sure?"

"We need you here Garnet." Glynda was the one to answer the boy's question. Ozpin then continued.

"She's right. The Vytal Festival is nearing. We need you here, to ensure the security it's at it's finest. We don't want any...unwanted guests dropping in."

Understanding the meaning behind those words, Garnet nodded.

"Alright, I understand."

* * *

After that, Garnet spent a little while explaining about the 'mutants' he encountered while on his mission.

"So yeah, that's about the gist of it. The mutants are bigger, badder and more durable. It definitely needs a full team working in sync to take those bastards down. Even some of the other Hunters would have trouble I think."

"Hmm..." Ozpin hummed lightly. "I'll make sure to send out some warnings to the other headmasters in case they or any of their students happen to see a mutant. But for the moment, here."

Saying that, Ozpin grabbed the Scroll Garnet had given him and tossed it back to the young man.

"For safe keeping. If you happen to find anything else that seems important to you, make sure to let me know."

"Got it."

With that, the air in the room seemingly got a little lighter, with Ozpin leaning back in his chair.

"It'll be a while before you have to go on another mission so take that time to rest. You've pushed yourself far enough."

"I'm just fine Ozpin-"

 ***cough* *hack***

Garnet tried to deny being tired, but was interrupted by a sudden coughing fit that made his knees buckle for the briefest of moments. As he hunched over, he saw tiny blood splatters soaking into his glove.

"Obviously you're not fine." Ozpin's voice carried an air of seriousness in it. "You have immense stamina, but your body is reaching it's limit Garnet. You're pushing yourself too hard, too quickly. Overexerting yourself could potentially lead to total organ failure and I doubt even your Semblance can recover **all** of your vital organs in time."

"..." Garnet didn't say anything this time.

It was clearly visible by looking at Garnet's condition that Ozpin was right. So the young man simply released a tired sigh.

"Alright, fine. I'll try and get some rest, if I can even fall asleep..."

"Nightmares again?" Glynda spoke knowingly and with what seemed to be motherly concern.

"Again? They never stopped to begin with..." Garnet then seemed to remember something.

"By the way, how did the little interrogation go?"

Ozpin took a sip of his hot cocoa and leaned back in his chair.

"It was...enlightening to say the least. Thank you for telling me her favorite snack before hand. Those cookies worked wonders in keeping her calm. Well, she also got a little too hyperactive but I guess that's to be expected from her, right?"

"Yup. She's just a ball of energy sometimes." Garnet chuckled before getting a strawberry chip cookie out of nowhere and taking a bite. "But if you ever need to get her under control, strawberry chip cookies are the way to go. She'll do anything for them."

"I'll have to remember that."

"Yeah, you'll need to. Especially if her sister ropes her into anything crazy or something. Have some of them cookies ready at any time and you'll have few problems with her."

Hearing that, Ozpin chuckled.

"Are you afraid she'll cause trouble?"

"Probably, but hey. Let's hope for the best."

"Fufu~ Yes, let's hope young Ruby doesn't bring the academy down."

Garnet and Ozpin shared a laugh, while Glynda watched from the side with a small smile, seeing Garnet laugh.

After they finished laughing, Garnet adjusted his cloak to cover his body once more and turned on his heels, glancing back at Ozpin.

"Well, I'm going to try and hit the sack. With some luck, I might get some deep sleep from the exhaustion, ahaha~"

He said that laughing, but it was clear that it meant much more to Garnet.

 ***tap***

Feeling a soft hand on his shoulder, Garnet glanced back see Glynda looking at him with a comforting gaze.

"I'll be with you shortly. Don't worry about a thing."

Hearing the reassuring words, Garnet allowed a small genuine smile to appear on his face.

"Thanks Glyn...You're the best."

With that, Garnet walked over to the elevator and left the room.

* * *

Left alone, the silence was broken as Glynda released a heavy sigh. Seeing this, Ozpin raised an eyebrow.

"Are the nightmares that bad?"

"I think that would be an understatement. They're slowly turning into night terrors, everytime he tries to sleep. Unless he's completely exhausted, he'll inevitable wake up screaming in the middle of the night."

Glancing back at the elevator door, Ozpin gained an almost remorseful look in his eyes.

"I knew I shouldn't have sent him and his team on that mission. It all spiraled out of control after that…" he mumbled, staring into his coffee mug. "Of all the mistakes I've ever done, this is one of the one's I regret the most. I can only imagine what it feels like to lose so much so quickly, especially at such a young age."

"Obviously it left a deep scar on him. Even worse, having to do...that..."

At the mention of the mysterious event, Ozpin's expression dropped further.

Without saying a word, Ozpin stood up and went over to the giant glass windows. He then glanced down into a slightly remote part of the campus, where what seemed like a stone monument was placed.

"Do you think he'll ever recover?" Glynda broke the silence, as the headmaster looked out into the night sky.

"In time, yes. However wounds like that don't heal on their own Glynda. He needs help. But you already know that, right?"

"..." Glynda remained silent, already knowing what Ozpin was referring to. "...I tried my best, but it seems like I'm barely making any progress."

Hearing this, something seemingly passed through the headmaster's mind that made him glance back at his desk.

Walking over, he placed his mug down and picked up a file. Looking through it, he spoke offhandedly.

"Maybe you shouldn't be alone in trying to help him..."

"Huh?"

"Did you know that Garnet had a few encounters with a student a while ago?"

"H-He did?" Glynda was slightly taken aback by this. For personal reasons which even she didn't know completely, Garnet made it a point to avoid interacting with students unless absolutely necessary.

So hearing that he encountered a single student multiple times was surprising.

Ozpin then handed Glynda the file, so she could see what student he was talking about.

"Velvet Scarlatina?" once again, there was a decent amount of surprise in her voice.

"Surprising, isn't it? Mrs. Scarlatina randomly encountered him one night and actually managed to talk to him for a bit."

"I don't think even she knows how great a feat that is" Glynda mumbled offhandedly. "Does she know who Garnet actually is?"

"I doubt it. But it's curious, isn't it? Something about Mrs. Scarlatina made Garnet feel alright with revealing himself to her."

"Are you saying she could help him get over his past?"

Glynda wasn't stupid, and she knew why Ozpin brought this up now of all times.

Said man showed a pensive expression.

"Not on her own but maybe with both of your help, you could speed up the recovery process. Who knows, maybe Garnet will even find love again in you two~"

The last part was obviously an off handed joke, however Glynda seemed surprisingly affected by it.

"P-Prof. Ozpin! I couldn't possibly have such a r-relationship with Garnet! And Mrs. Scarlatina is too young for him too!"

"She's 18, a consenting adult."

"Still!"

Ozpin gave a short laugh as Glynda slapped Velvet's folder on the desk.

"Relax Glynda, it was just a joke. No need to get so worked up about it."

"Humpf!"

Like before, Glynda crossed her arms over her bust and huffed. She then turned on her heels and began walking away.

"If that's all, I'll be taking my leave now. Knowing Garnet, he'll probably try to tire himself out even more, so I need to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. Goodnight."

And with that, Glynda was gone as well, leaving Ozpin all alone in his office.

* * *

 **_linebreaktotimeskipthenextmajorevent,ohmygah_**

* * *

"Oh, I can't believe my baby sister is coming to Beacon with me!" a young blonde haired girl exclaimed, while hugging an embarrassed Ruby very tightly. "This is the best day ever!"

"Y-Yang..Please stop."

"But I'm so proud of you!"

"It was nothing sis. Really"

Yang looked incredulously at her sister.

"What do you mean? You were incredible! Everyone at Beacon is going to think you're the bees knees!"

However, Ruby didn't seem to keen on being in the spotlight.

"But I don't wanna be the "bee's knees", okay? I don't want to be any kind of knees! I want to be a normal girl, with normal knees." she pointed at her knees to emphasize her point.

"What's with you? Aren't you excited?"

Ruby shook her head while glancing at the ground.

"Of course I'm excited...I just..I got moved ahead two years. I don't want people to think I'm something special, you know?"

"But you ARE special!" Yang encouraged her sister, draping her hand over the redhead's shoulder.

"The robbery was led by the nefarious criminal, Roman Torchwick, who continues to avoid authorities." however the sister's moment was interrupted by the news station. "If you have information on his whereabouts, please contact the Vale Police Department. Back to you Lisa."

"Thank you Cyril. In other news, this Saturday's Faunus Civil Right's Protest turned dark, when members of the White Fang disrupted the ceremony. The once peaceful organization has now disrupted..." and it was then the news holograms turned off, and in it's stead, a holographic Glynda appeared in front of the students.

"Hello, and welcome to Beacon." she greeted the students, getting everyone's attention.

"Woah, who's that?", Yang asked her sister.

"My name is Glynda Goodwitch."

"Oh."

"You, are among the privileged few, who have been selected to attend this prestigious academy. As our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, it's your duty as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed, for such a task. And now, it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and training to protect our world."

The hologram disappeared as soon as it appeared.

"Wow~" Ruby exclaimed, as her and a few other students approached the windows of the air ship. "Look, you can see Signal from up here. I guess home isn't so far after all."

Ruby then felt Yang's hand on her shoulder, turning back to see the blonde giving a the young girl a smile.

"Beacon's our home now."

The two then heard someone groaning behind them.

Turning to look, they saw a young man with blonde hair hunched over in one of the corners. He then quickly turned and headed to the end of the ship while gagging.

"Well...I guess the view isn't for everyone." Yang's remark was met with a nod from Ruby.

"I was a nice moment while it lasted."

"Now I'm left wondering who we're gonna meet there."

"I just hope they're better than "Vomit Boy"..." Ruby then noticed something. "-Oh, Yang! Gross, you have puke on your shoe!"

"Gross, gross, gross..." Yang mumbled in a panic, trying to get the puke off her shoe.

"Get away Get away! Get away from me!" Ruby tried to get away from her sister while shouting.

Off into the distance, on one of Beacon's towers stood Garnet, now dressed in a black dress shirt with red collar and ornaments. He also wore matching black dress pants and dark brown boots, his gloves and maroon coat ever present.

Though he didn't have his hood over his head now.

As he was watching the ship approach beacon, he suddenly chuckled.

"Looks like Beacon is going to be a lot of fun with you two around..."

Then, his body exploded into a mass of black feathers again, slowly falling towards the ground, disappearing in the process.

* * *

 **And that's a wrap!**

 **Edit: 02.02.19**

 **Welp, here we go!**

 **The first chapter overhauled and rewritten. I changed quite a few things like completely rewriting the dialogues alluding to Garnet's past and even sprinkled some hints about his Semblance.**

 **I tried to fix all grammatical errors I came across but I may have missed a few. I apologize if I did.**

 **Also reworked the majority of the dialogue in this chapter, rewriting it so it wouldn't be so repetitive with the whole 'he said' 'she said'. Hopefully it's easier to read now.**

 **Now it's time to rewrite the second chapter~**

 **But considering how long it took to rewrite this chapter, it's going to take longer than expected to rewrite the other two chapters. I apologize…**

 **But anyway, hopefully you enjoy this chapter~ Tell me if you did in the reviews. And if you didn't like it, what should I do better?**

 **I'll see y'all next chapter!**

 **Seeya~**


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 3: An unexpected guide

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **Whew. Hello again.**

 **So, since I've finally found a quiet place, how about we continue from where we were...rudely, interrupted.**

 **Ahem.**

 **So, since we've covered the origin of man, how about we talk about that power of nature I introduce last time?**

 **Dust.**

 **Now, by definition, Dust is a naturally occurring energy propellant, triggered by the Aura of humans and Faunus. However, in reality…**

 **It's a whole lot more than that...**

 **Dust, can be found in four basic forms.**

 **Fire.**

 **Water.**

 **Earth.**

 **And Wind.**

 **However, it can also be combined, to result in a variety of different, stronger forms, such as Ice, Gravity etc.**

 **Since it's discovery, man has found a variety of ways to harness the power of these crystals. From airships, to androids, to pretty much every other piece of technology created.**

 **Now, some people, prefer to use Dust in it's raw form. Crystals. Elegant, and yet very destructive. However, you can't just run around, waving the Dust crystal as if it's a toy. Those who wield Dust in it's raw form, must posses a certain level of discipline, to ensure that they don't lose control of their new found power.**

 **Now Dust ammunition on the other hand, is far more practical and convenient. Just choose the cartridge you want for the job, and pull the trigger. And while this has become the standard method of use, there are still some people, that use it in a more...archaic way.**

 **Some people, weave it into their clothes.**

 **And some, even go as far…**

 **As infusing it into their own bodies.**

 **To each their own, I guess. Heh. I ain't one to talk after all….**

*Knock knock*

 **Wait wha-?**

"*door slam* **Hey there kiddo! How's it going~?"**

 **What are you doing here? How did you even find me?**

" **Aww c'mon kid. You know I have a knack for finding stuff~ Now come 'ere. How about we go have a nice sparring session eh? Just like the old times~"**

 **Ugh, no. Lemme go, you have** **booze** **all over you.** **Go and take a shower or something. Be sober for once.**

" **Oi... Come on, kiddo. Is that any way to talk to your – hnghf!" *thud***

 **Excuse me, but I have to go and deal with a nuisance right away. We'll talk again the next time.**

 **Until then…**

*the sound of someone being dragged on the floor is heard, before a door closes*

A little while after Glynda's announcement, the students had finally reached their destination. Beacon Academy, in all it's glory. Simply being here, filled the students with a feeling of excitement.

"Whoaa...hugk!...Bleeeh...blehh..haah..bleeeagh!"

...Apparently, some have **other** feelings to tend to… Poor fellow. Wonder what would've happened if that trash can wasn't there…

Ruby and her sister Yang, found themselves among the many students that were exiting the ship, and were making their way towards the academy.

"Woooowwww..."

The two sisters were currently staring up at the giant academy, mouth slightly agape.

"The view from Vale's got nothing on this!" Yang remarked, crossing her arms over her bust, and nodding her head approvingly. Her sister on the other side…

"Ohh! Ohh! Sis!" Ruby exclaimed, somehow transforming into a floating Chibi version of herself. She then pointed at one of the students that were passing by.

"That kid's got a collapsible staff! Oh! And that girl has a fire sword!" she gushed, begging to make her way over. Until Yang pulled her back by her hood, reverting her into a normal human again, in the process.

"Whoa there sis. Calm down, they're just weapons." Yang shrugged, making Ruby turn to her with a shocked expression.

" **Just** weapons? They're an extension of our souls! They're a part of us! Ohh, they're so cool!" Ruby said dreamy.

"Well, why don't you swoon over your own weapon then? Aren't happy with it?" Yang asked, referring to Ruby's Crescent Rose. Said weapon, being pulled out, and cuddled by Ruby.

"Of course I'm happy wit Crescent Rose. I just, like seeing new ones. It's like meeting new people." Ruby explained. "But better."

"C'mon Ruby." Yang said, pulling Ruby's hood over her head. "Why don't you go and try to make some friends of your own." she suggested with a smile.

"But why would I need friends when I have you?" Ruby asked innocently.

"Well..." Yang started awkwardly, before a couple of students appeared out of nowhere right behind her. "You see my friends just arrived, so I gotta go catch up with 'em, 'kay seeya bye!" she said, quickly bolting away from poor Ruby, leaving her in a daze.

"W-Wait, what about our dorms? Do we even have dorms? Where are we even supposed to go…?" Ruby said, spinning in place after Yang and her friends left. "Uh, I don't know what I'm doing..." she murmured, falling backwards after she finally stopped spinning…

 ***CRASH***

...She also fell, right inside a luggage carrier, making some suitcases fly out of it.

"Hey what are you doing?!" a stern voice snapped Ruby back to reality. Looking up, she noticed another girl standing over her, looking quite angry.

It was a pale skinned young girl with pale blue eyes and long white hair pulled back into an off-center bun tail and pinned with an icicle shaped tiara. A crooked scar running vertically down her left eye.

She wore a thigh-length strapless dress with a faint color gradation from white to pale blue at the hem. A small piece of black lace sat in the front of her neckline and the hem of the dress is scalloped and stitched to resemble snowflakes, with layers of white tulle under the skirt. Over this she wore a bell sleeved bolero with the same color gradation as her dress from shoulder to wrist, lined in red and with a ruffled collar. On her back, was her Emblem. The Schnee emblem. This, is Weiss Schnee, the heiress of the Schnee Dust company.

"Uh...Sorry?" Ruby tried to apologize.

"'Sorry?' Do you have any idea of the damage you could have caused?!" Weissl reprimanded, causing little Ruby to shrink under her gaze.

"Uhh..." Ruby just grabbed one of the suitcases, and tried to hand it back to the girl.

"Gimme that!" she exclaimed, ripping the suitcase out of Ruby's hands. "This is Dust! Mined and purified from the Schnee Quarry." she explained, but Ruby was still confused. "What are you, brain dead?" she asked rudely. "Dust!" she exclaimed, pulling a red vial from the suitcase, waving it in front of Ruby. This caused some of the Dust inside the vial to be released in the air, Weiss not even noticing. "You know? Fire, Water, Lightning, Energy!" she exclaimed.

But as Ruby was about to answer, some of the red Dust in the air, began seeping into her nose, making her want to sneeze.

"Are you even listening to me?!" Weiss shouted exasperated. Also waving even more Dust in Ruby's nose. "Is any of this sinking in? Hello?"

Caw!

"Huh? What the-!?"

Before she could wave even **more** Dust in Ruby's nose, a high pitched cawing sound was heard, getting Weiss's attention. Immediately after, a medium sized Jackdaw flew down on her head, and began flapping it's wings wildly.

It was trying to get rid of the Dust floating in the air, before it could cause an accident. Unfortunately, it was a little too late for that.

As for Weiss…

"Ah! Help! This bird is attacking me!"

She thought she was getting attacked by birds, so she tried to get rid of the Jackdaw, making it even harder for the bird to get rid of the Dust.

"Uhh...Aahh!"

The two stopped, upon hearing Ruby prepare to sneeze. The Jackdaw immediately opened it's wings, and flew up. Unfortunately, the girl wasn't as fast...

"HACHOO!"

 ***BOOM!***

As soon as Ruby sneezed, the red Dust around her ignited and created a big explosion, which enveloped both her and Weiss, who was in front of her. The Jackdaw was safely watching from above the two girls. In the explosion, the red vial flew away, landing at another girls feet.

She was a fair skinned young girl, with bright amber eyes, long black hair and a black bow on top of her head. She also wore purple eyeshadow in catseye style.

Her attire consisted of a black buttoned vest with coattails and a single silver button at the front. Underneath this was a white, sleeveless, high necked, crop undershirt and white shorts with a zipper on the front of each leg.

She also wore black low-heeled boots and full stockings with a color gradation of black to purple at her ankles. Her Emblem is visible on the outside of both thighs just below her shorts in white. On her left arm is a detached sleeve with a silver cuff around her bicep, and black ribbons are wrapped around both forearms. A small, loose scarf was wrapped around her neck and a gray magnetic backpack was strapped to her back, hidden by her hair.

The girl, was reading a book, when she felt the Dust vial hit against her boots. Picking it up, she looked at it for a second, before a loud voice got her attention.

"Unbelievable!" the girl heard Weiss exclaim.

Looking over, she saw that Weiss was completely covered in soot, while Ruby was doing just fine on the ground.

"This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about!" Weiss exclaimed, shaking the soot off her clothes.

After standing up, Ruby began poking her index fingers together.

"I'm really, really sorry..." Ruby apologized sheepishly.

"Ugh, you complete dolt!" Weiss exclaimed.

At that very moment, the Jackdaw from earlier flew back down, landed on Ruby's shoulder, and cawed at Weiss, making her jump back a bit.

"Not this bird again!" she yelped, fearing the bird will 'attack' her again.

Instead, the Jackdaw just nestled on Ruby's shoulder, and fixed Weiss with as much of a glare as it's tiny bird eyes would allow it. And it actually seemed to work...kinda.

"You two stay away from me!" Weiss said, taking another step back.

"Look, I don't know what the deal with the bird is..." Ruby began, glancing at the bird, who looked right back. "But the explosion was an accident! Not to mention you were waving all of Dust in my face in the first place!" Ruby pointed out, shocking Weiss.

"Are you saying this is **my** fault?!" Weiss exclaimed, to which the Jackdaw of all things nodded it's head strongly. "Do you even know who I am?" she asked angrily.

"No idea, Princess." Ruby deadpanned.

"Heiress, actually." a new voice stopped their squabbling.

Looking over, the two saw the black haired girl from before, making her way over to them, Dust Vial in hand.

"Weiss Schnee. Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, one of the world's biggest producers of energy propellant." the girl said, making Weiss's face light up.

"Finally, some recognition!" she exclaimed victoriously. But the girl continued.

"The same company infamously known for it's controversial labor forces, and shady business partners." the girl finished blankly, making Weiss begin fuming again.

"Ugh-! How dare-!.. The nerve of-!" Weiss stammered, before grabbing the dust vial form the girls hand, and stomping off.

"I promise I'll make this up to you!" Ruby called.

"Then you better keep that bird away from me!" was the last thing Weiss said.

At Weiss's statement, the black haired girl finally noticed the not-so-inconspicuous bird that was perched on Ruby's shoulder, looking right back at her. The two locked eyes for a moment, as the girl seemed to notice something off about the bird. She decided to leave it for now, and began leaving.

"I guess I'm not the only one having a rough first day.." Ruby sighed, after watching Weiss leave. "So, what's-?" she started, only to notice that the girl was already leaving.

Sighing, Ruby fell on the ground, and let herself lean back on the pavement, looking at the sky, the Jackdaw looking at her confused.

"Welcome to Beacon..." she sighed sadly.

Then, a shadow loomed over her. Looking at the owner, Ruby noticed the blonde boy from the ship, his hand extended toward her.

"Hey. I'm Jaune." he introduced himself to Ruby

"Ruby." she said, grabbing his hand, and getting pulled back on her feet. And as soon as she was up, the Jackdaw nestled right back on her shoulder, surprising Jaune.

"Is that your bird?" he asked, pointing at the Jackdaw.

"No, not really. It just showed up earlier and has been sitting on my shoulder the entire time, so I guess it just likes me or something." she answered, petting the bird on the head. Ruby then took a closer look at Jaune, and asked.

"Hey aren't you that guy that threw up on the ship?"

A while later, Ruby, along with Jaune and the unnamed Jackdaw, were walking through the school campus, looking for the amphitheater.

"I'm just saying motion-sickness is much more common problem than people let on!" Jaune exclaimed.

"Look, I'm sorry, but Vomit Boy is the first thing that came to mind." Ruby apologized.

"Oh yeah, well what if I called you Crater-Face?" Jaune asked, making Ruby turn to him.

"Hey! That was an accident!" Ruby exclaimed, the Jackdaw cawing in agreement.

"Well, the name's Jaune Arc." Jaune said, breaking away from the little squabble. "Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it!" he boasted, making Ruby look at him with a raised eyebrow, while the Jackdaw looked blankly at Jaune.

"Do they?" Ruby asked sarcastically.

"The will!" Jaune defended. "At least..I hope they will..That's what my mom said.. Nevermind." Jaune said, making Ruby roll her eyes amused.

"So..I got this." Ruby said, unfolding Crescent Rose, making Jaune jump back in surprise.

"Whoa! Is that a scythe?" he asked, a little scared.

"It's also a customizable high impact velocity sniper rifle!" Ruby explained with pride. Seeing Jaune's confused face, she loaded a round, and simplified. "It's also a gun."

"Oh." Jaune said. "That's cool!"

"So, what've you got?" Ruby asked with anticipation. In turn, Jaune turned a little sheepish.

"Oh, uh, well. I've got this." he stammered slightly, pulling out a sword that looked pretty worn over the years.

"Oooohhh." Ruby admired the sword. Jaune then took the sheath of the sword, turning it into a shield.

"And I also have this shield!" he said, as Ruby analyzed the shield.

"So, what do they do?" she asked, tapping on the metal once. However, as she did that, the shield sprang back into sheath form, alternating between form a couple times, forcing Jaune to try his best at catching it. After catching the shield, Jaune answered.

"Well, the shield gets smaller.." he turned the shield back into sheath mode, to show his point. "So..when I get tired..I can, uh, just put it away."

"But, wouldn't it weigh the same?" Ruby asked confused. Jaune immediately deflated.

"Yeah, it does.."

"Well, I'm kind of a dork when it comes to weapons, so I guess I went a little overboard designing this." she admitted, stroking Crescent Rose.

"Wait, you made that?" Jaune asked surprised. Ruby nodded her head.

"Of course! All students at Signal forge their own weapons." she elaborated. "Didn't you make yours?"

"Well, it's a hand-me-down." Jaune said, looking at his sword. "My great-great grandfather used it to fight in the war."

His statement, seemed to attract the attention of the Jackdaw, which had been silently sleeping on Ruby's shoulder the entire time.

"It sounds more like a family heirloom to me!" Ruby said. "Well, I like it! Not many people have an appreciation for the classics these days." she explained, making Jaune nod his head.

"Yeah. The classics."

"So, why'd you help me out back there?" Ruby asked, as they put away their weapons.

"Well, my mom always says 'Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet'. So, I thought 'why not'?" he explained, catching up to little Red.

"Hey, where are we going?" she asked, looking around. Jaune stopped.

"I dunno. I was following you." he exclaimed.

"Aw man." Ruby deflated slightly. Looking around, she saw that there was no one else present. "Well, there goes the asking option.."

"Think there might be a directory? Maybe a food court?" Jaune asked, making Ruby giggle.

Then, she looked at the Jackdaw, who was looking back curiously.

"You wouldn't happen to know how we're supposed to get to the amphitheater, right buddy?" she asked the small creature, who tilted it's head. Then, it spread it's wings, and took off, heading to a wooden sign, drawing curious looks from Jaune and Ruby.

Reaching the sign, the Jackdaw grabbed it with it's claws, and turned it to face the two, so they could read the message on it.

" **If lost, follow the signs."**

"Oh. Well that's convenient." Jaune remarked.

"Unfortunately, there aren't any other signs beside this one.." Ruby said, after looking around, noticing there weren't any other signs around.

Caw!

Hearing the Jackdaw caw, Ruby looked back at it, only to see it hitting the sign with it's beak. Before they could question it, however, the sign fell off, revealing another sign hidden behind it.

" **In case of no signs, follow the Jackdaw."**

Jaune and Ruby looked on, as the Jackdaw flew off the sign, and returned to Ruby's shoulder, which by now, had become the birds new nest. It was perfect, because of Ruby's cloak, creating the perfect nest.

"So, your a Jackdaw huh?" she asked the bird. The jackdaw simply nodded it's head, before stopping and shaking from side to side. This confused Ruby, but she decided to ignore it for the moment, since she wasn't that knowledgeable in bird language.

"Does it know where the amphitheater is?" Jaune asked, getting Ruby's attention.

"Maybe?" she said, turning back to the bird on her shoulder. "Well buddy? Do you know where we're supposed to go?" she asked.

The bird stood up, and stretched it's right wind forward, pointing them in the right direction.

"Well, there's your answer Jaune!" Ruby exclaimed happily, beginning to make her way to the school.

"Hey, wait for me!" he called.

After a little bit of walking, and with the help of their new feathered friend, Ruby and Jaune finally made their way into the amphitheater. There, they saw a mane of golden hair, waving at Ruby.

"Ruby! Over here! I saved you a spot!" Yang called, making Ruby turn to Jaune.

"Well, that's my cue. I'll see you after the ceremony!" she said, quickly making her way over to her sister.

"Hey wait!" he called back, in vain. "Aww man. Where am I supposed to find a nice, quirky girl to talk to now?" he asked sadly, not even noticing a girl with bright red hair standing right behind him.

"So, how's your first day going, little sis?" Yang asked her sister, who crossed her arms frowning.

"You mean, since you ditched me and I exploded!?" she exclaimed, looking at her sister.

"Yikes. Meltdown already?" Yang asked surprised, causing Ruby to shake her head.

"No, I literally exploded a hole, in front of the school! There was some fire...a-and I think some ice." she elaborated, her hand resting on her chin.

"...Are you being sarcastic?" Yang asked, thinking this was a simple joke. However Ruby scoffed.

"Yeah, I wish! I tripped over some crabby girls luggage! And then she started yelling at me, and then this bird showed up, and then I sneezed, and exploded, and then she yelled at me some more, and I just wanted her to stop yelling at me!" Ruby exclaimed, before…

"You!"

"Oh God it's happening again!" Ruby shrieked, jumping into her sisters arms, as soon as she heard Weiss voice. This also shook the Jackdaw awake.

"You're lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!" Weiss reprimanded Ruby some more, even though it was water under the bridge.

"Oh my God, you really exploded." Yang said quietly, looking at Ruby with wide eyes.

"-It was an accident." she told Yang, before getting off of her sister and turning to Weiss. "I told you it was an accident!" she tried to apologize, only to be met with a pamphlet called 'Dust for Dummies', courtesy of Weiss. "What's this?"

"The Schnee Dust Company is not responsible for any injury sustained while operating a Schnee dust Company product." she declared. "Although not mandatory-" and, she started rambling on like a robot, confusing poor Ruby.

"-uuhh..."

"You really want to start making things up to me?" Weiss asked, making Ruby nod her head. "Then read this, and never speak to me again." she said, pushing the pamphlet in Ruby's face.

"OK, looks like you two started off on the wrong foot." Yang said, trying to help. "How about you start over and try to be friends?"

"Yeah! Great idea sis!" Ruby exclaimed. Then, she extended her hand toward Weiss. "Hello Weiss! I'm Ruby!" she said, introducing herself properly. "Want to hang out? We could go shopping for school supplies!"

"Yeah! And we can try on clothes, and paint our nails, and talk about cute boys, like tall, blonde and scraggly over there!" she said, very, sarcastically, pointing at Jaune. But Ruby seemed to buy it.

"Really?!" she asked excitedly.

"No." Weiss deadpanned

"Ahem." a voice over the microphone got everyone's attention. On the stage, Ozpin was standing in front of the microphone, with Glynda at his side.

"I'll keep this brief. You have traveled her, in search of knowledge. To hone your craft, and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to protecting other people." he said, with everyone listening intently, some with more vigor than others. Ozpin then continued. "But when I look amongst you, all I see is wasted potential, in need of a purpose, a direction. You assume knowledge will free you from this, but your time at school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far." he said, looking at everyone in the room, briefly noticing the black Jackdaw on Ruby's shoulder.

"It is up to you, to take the first step." he said, finishing his speech. He then left the stage, leaving Glynda in charge.

"You will all gather in the ballroom tonight. Your initiation, will begin tomorrow." she told the students. "Be ready. Dismissed!" and with that, the entire speech was finished, leaving the students to head over to the ballroom.

"He seemed really off." Yang remarked. "Almost as if he wasn't even there."

Caw!

""What the-?!"" Weiss and Yang exclaimed simultaneously, as the Jackdaw that was sleeping unnoticed on Ruby's shoulder, suddenly sprang out and made it's presence known.

"You still have that?! I thought I told you to keep that bird away from me!" Weiss took another step back.

"Ruby? What's with the bird?" Yang asked cautiously, seeing the bird stare at her intensely.

Ruby then grabbed the bird, and presented it to Yang.

"This guy helped me and Jaune get to the auditorium. You know...After you ditched me." Ruby pointed out.

"But-"

"-And." Ruby cut Yang off. "It also helped me with Weiss, something that should've been your job." she said, internally smirking, when seeing Yang's face drop slightly.

"Alright, I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry for leaving you on your first day." Yang apologized, as Ruby smiled triumphantly, putting the jackdaw back on her shoulder. "What can I do to make it up to you sis?"

Ruby put on a thinking face, while petting the bird, before answering.

"I want strawberry chip cookies!" Ruby declared. Nodding, Yang looked at the bird.

"And does your friend crow want something too, for helping you out?" she asked sarcastically.

Only to be surprised, when the jackdaw jumped from Ruby's shoulder, onto her head, releasing a happy(?) caw.

"Anyone know what that means?" Yang asked no one in particular, but got a response nonetheless.

"Pretty sure it said it wants cookies too. Also, it's a jackdaw, not a crow." a new, familiar to Ruby and Weiss, voice called from behind them.

Turning to the voice, they saw the black haired girl from before approaching them, stopping next to Ruby.

"Not you again!" Weiss exclaimed. "I'm leaving." And with that, she turned on her heels, and left the amphitheater.

Turning back to the girl, who was once again analyzing the bird, Yang asked.

"You can understand animals?" she asked, to which the girl shook her head.

"I can't understand them, but I can guess what their thinking. Jackdaws belong to the same family as crows and ravens, so they're pretty opportunistic eaters. The fact it cawed so happily, after cookies were brought up, seems to prove my theory. Right?" she said, directing that last bit to the bird itself, who nodded.

"Okay then." Yang said, not really sure of what would be the right thing to say in this situation. "Can you not sit on my sisters head?" she told the bird, who had sat on Ruby's head, becoming sort of a hat.

"You should get going." she said, before leaving Ruby and Yang alone with the Jackdaw.

"I'm a natural blonde you know!" Jaune said, appearing out of nowhere.

Late at night, Ruby, dressed in a black tank top and pink sweatpants, lay on her sleeping bag, writing something. The Jackdaw was also present, next to Ruby, looking at what she was writing.

"This is like a big slumber party!" Yang exclaimed, plopping right next Ruby. She was dressed the same as Ruby, but with a yellow tank top bearing her Emblem and black sweatpants.

"I don't think Dad would approve of all the boys, though." Ruby answered, not taking her eyes off her notebook. Unbeknownst to her, the Jackdaw nodded it's head, confusing Yang. She then decided to ignore it, and focus on something else.

"I know I would~" Yang said, eyeing up the boys that were shirtless.

Until Jaune entered her line of sight, dressed in a light blue onesie, much to the apparent amusement of the friendly bird present, while slightly creeping out Yang.

"Ugh...Hey, what's that?" Yang asked her sister, seeing as she kept writing something in her notebook.

"Oh, I'm just writing a letter for my friends at Signal. I promised to tell them all about Beacon." she said with a smile.

"Aww, that's so CUUTE!" Yang exclaimed happily, before being nailed in the face with a pillow, courtesy of Ruby.

"Shut up. I didn't get to take my friends with me school." she reprimanded her sister. "It's weird not knowing anyone here."

"What about Jaune?" Yang pointed out. "He seems nice. And you also have that bird." she pointed at the Jackdaw sleeping right next to Ruby.

Ruby looked at it, before beginning to pet it lightly, making it slowly open it's small eyes, making Ruby coo at the sight.

"Aww, so cute~" as she was gushing at the bird, Yang thought of something.

"Say, what his name?" she asked her sister, Ruby herself putting on a thinking face.

"I dunno. It was only refereed to by it's species. Don't think it has a name." she pointed out. "Wait, how do you know it's a 'he'?"

"I don't. I just assumed." Yang said, shrugging her shoulders. "I can check though."

She then proceeded to pick the bird up, startling it awake in the process. And as she was about to check for it's gender, the bird began flapping it's wings wildly, breaking free from Yang's grasp, flying right back next to Ruby, using it's wings to apparently cover itself.

Spitting a couple of black feathers from her mouth, Yang looked at the bird wearily.

"OK, what's up with that bird?" she asked, pretty freaked out by it's erratic behavior.

"I'm pretty sure no one would want someone else to look at their private parts without permission. Remember it can understand humans, somehow." Ruby explained, putting her notebook away, picking up the jackdaw and placing it in her lap.

"Alright then. Are you a male?" Yang asked.

Unsurprisingly, the jackdaw nodded it's head, before releasing something akin to a huff, and turning his head to the side.

"I don't think you pet bird likes me." Yang deadpanned.

"Oh don't be like that. I'm sure he'll warm up to you." Ruby encouraged.

"Anyway, returning to our original conversation. Uh, yeah! Jaune. Plus one friend! That's a 100% increase!" Yang exclaimed happily. Ruby simply laid on her back, allowing her feathered friend to rest on her abdomen.

"Pretty sure Weiss counts as a negative friend." she sighed. "Back to zero."

"There's no such thing as a 'negative friend'." Yang said, trying to cheer Ruby up. "You've made one friend and one enemy! That was bound to happen at some point."

...she was nailed in the face with a corgi pillow this time, courtesy of Ruby again.

"Look, it's only been one day." Yang said "Trust me. You've got friends all around you. You just haven't met them yet."

It was then that they heard a matchstick being lit, followed by a light coming from one of the corners of the room. As Ruby stood up, to look where the light was coming from, the jackdaw flew on her shoulder again.

There, they saw the black haired girl again. This time, she was wearing a purple yukata, her bow ever present. She also had a lit candle next to her, providing enough light for her to read.

"Isn't that the girl from before?" Ruby asked, making Yang nod. Then, she got an idea.

"It is. And now's your chance!" she said, standing up, and dragging Ruby along, as they made their way over to the girl.

"Hey wait-! What are you doing?!"

As they made their way over, the girl seemed to notice them, and lowered her book, giving them her attention.

"Helloooo~!" Yang greeted, in a similar way to a certain red head. "I believe you remember us? From a little while ago?" she asked, a big smile plastered on her face.

"How can I not remember you? You are the only ones who have a bird following them around." the girl remarked, gesturing to Ruby's companion. Said bird then hopped off of Ruby's shoulder, onto the girls head, confusing her.

"Bird. Why are you on my head?" the girl asked, to which the jackdaw cawed, and settled on her head, right on her bow. "So you're comfortable huh..." she sighed. She then looked at the sisters.

"You're that girl that exploded this morning aren't you?" she remarked.

"Uh, yeah. Name's Ruby." she introduced herself, going for handshake. The girl however, returned to her book…

Until she was snapped out of it, by a feathered wing, slapping her in the face.

"Ow, what the-? What?" the girl asked. The jackdaw simply raised its wing, and gestured toward Ruby's extended hand. Sighing, the girl grasped Ruby's hand, murmuring 'why am I letting a stupid bird tell me what to do…?'.

"Blake." she introduced herself, making the bird nod his in approval.

"And I'm Yang!" the introduction finished with the busty blonde. "I'm Ruby's older sister!"

"Sisters? You two don't look anything alike though." Blake remarked, to which Ruby elaborated.

"We're half sisters. Same dad, different moms."

"I see..." Blake said, returning to her book. Silence descended, and Yang saw it fit to break it.

"So, I like your bow!" she said "It goes well with your...pajamas!" even though she said that, she wasn't really sure herself.

"...Thanks, I guess." was Blake's reply. Silence befell them again.

"Uh, nice night! Dont'cha think?" Yang asked again.

"Yes, it's lovely. Almost as lovely as this book..." Blake said, hoping the sisters would go away. They didn't "That I'm going to keep reading..." she tried again. Didn't work. "As soon as you leave." she dropped the biggest hints.

"Yeah, this girl's a lost cause." Yang said, looking at Ruby.

"What's it about?" Ruby asked, surprising Blake.

"Huh?"

"The book. Does it have a name?" she asked again.

"Well, it's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body." Blake explained the book she was reading. At that, the jackdaw on her head leaned over, reading the content of the book.

"Oh would you look at that. A literate crow." Yang remarked, only to earn an angry caw from the jackdaw. "Oops, sorry. I meant, Jackdaw." she corrected herself.

"You know, I love books. Yang always used to read me stories when I was little. Well one other too, but mainly Yang." Ruby said, gaining the attention of Blake. "Stories about heroes and monsters...They're one of the reasons I want to become a Huntress."

"Why is that?" Blake asked with a small laugh. "Hoping you'll live happily ever after?"

"I'm hoping we all will." Ruby responded. "As a girl, I wanted to be just like the heroes in those books. Someone who fought for what's right, and who protected those who can't protect themselves."

"That's certainly a very ambitious dream for a child." Blake remarked. "Unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale." she said sadly.

' _Too true...'_

"But...That's why we're here. To make it better." Ruby said with a smile.

"Ooh~ I'm so proud of my baby sister!" Yang exclaimed, bringing Ruby into a bear hug.

"Cut it out!" Ruby shouted, as the two became enveloped into the cartoon squabble cloud.

Blake and the Jackdaw, could only look on at the sisterly squabble. Blake then grabbed the bird, and put it in her lap, making the small creature look up at her.

"Say, do they even call you?" she asked. The bird, tilted it's head in confusion. "You know, a name. Or something like that." she elaborated.

The jackdaw looked at Blake for a second, before raising it's wings into a shrugging position, surprising the girl.

"You're really smart aren't you." she remarked surprised. The bird seemed to get the faintest of blushes, nuzzling in Blake's hand, as if asking her to pet him. Amused, Blake obliged and began petting the little bird.

Caw!

"Huh? You want **me** to give you a name?" she asked, confused. The bird shook it's head. "A nickname then?" this was the right answer. Blake wanted to ask why he wouldn't let the other two name him, but then she realized they were still squabbling.

Sighing, she put on a thinking face, the jackdaw awaiting patiently.

"Hmm...Oh I know." she said, getting the birds attention. "How about Cozmo?" she said, getting a confused head tilt from the small animal. So she decided to elaborate. "It's an abbreviation from the word 'Cosmos'. That another term for 'Space' or 'Universe'. We usually think of black, or dark violet, when thinking of space. So, in accordance to the naming rule, Cozmo fits with your plumage. What do you think?" she asked.

The little bird seemed to think for a while, before nodding it's head happily. This little gesture, drew a tiny smile from the girl.

"Well Cozmo? Want to read a bit with me?" she asked, getting a nod from the bird. Her own gesture, seemed to confuse her a bit. "Wow, I never thought I'd have this kind of conversation with a bird of all things...Now I've seen it all." she said, picking Cozmo up, and putting him on top of her shoulder.

"Wait a second." Ruby, who heard Blake, stopped her and Yang's squabbling, and looked at Blake. "Who's Cozmo?" she asked.

Blake pointed at the bird on her shoulder, while the bird itself raised it's right wing, making Ruby gush at the gesture.

"Aww! So you finally have a name now! And you're so cute with your little wings~! Ahhh, so cute~" she cooed, drawing an amused look from Yang.

"What about Zwei? Replaced him already?" she asked, a smirk plastered on her face.

"Of course not! I'll love them equally!" she exclaimed, kind of loud.

"What is with all the racket over here!?" Weiss's voice shouted, as she made her way over to the group. "Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep?!-" then she noticed Ruby and Yang standing there.

""Oh not you again!"" She and Yang shouted in unison.

"Shhh!" Ruby tried to quiet them down. "Guys, she's right! People are trying to sleep!"

"Oh, so now you're on my side." Weiss said sarcastically.

"I was always on your side!" Ruby exclaimed, soon joined by Yang.

"Yeah! What's your problem with my little sister? She's only trying to be nice!" she exclaimed.

At this point, Blake was starting to get quite the headache.

"Want to end this?" she asked her newest pet companion. Cozmo nodded his head, making Blake pick up her candle, and blow it out, enveloping the room in darkness.

"Guys, who put out the sun?" Ruby asked, getting an annoyed scoff as an answer.

Around two hours later, the struck midnight. Everyone was soundly asleep, the ballroom enveloped in complete silence, bar some snoring.

However, in this silence, a figure made it's way from out of the shadows. Tall, lean build, wearing a black tank top, along with dark gray sweatpants, and no socks. Midnight black hair, accompanied by a gleaming red eye, that lit it's way through the darkness.

"So quiet around here...Heh. You wouldn't think there's around a couple dozen students sleeping in here." Garnet whispered to himself, as to not awake the sleeping kids.

Soundlessly making his way thorough the masses of sleeping students, he caught a glimpse of Ruby and Yang. With a slight smirk, he made his way over to their sleeping forms. Reaching them, he had to hold in a slight chuckle.

"Mmm~ Come here cookies...I just wanna eat you~"

Ruby was having a pretty innocent dream. Cookies are everyone's favorite after all. Yang, however…

"Ooh yeah~ Mama Yang likes~" she had a pretty lewd expression on her face, a small trail of saliva running down the corner of her mouth.

' _Thirsty much…?'_ Garnet thought amused, secretly taking a photo on his Scroll. _'I'm sure Tai would definitely not agree to this. But, she's a teenager, so it's to be expected. I wasn't any different in my teenage years...Speaking of, wonder what Raven would say?'_ he thought.

In his mind, a Chibi version of Yang, with black hair and red kimono and armor, wove a red odachi around, shouting: "If you have time to dream about boys, you have time to train to become more powerful, so you can crush your enemies!"

' _...Yeah. Definitely Raven.'_ Garnet thought, nodding his head.

He then looked at Ruby, who was still busy eating cookies in the dream world. Garnet gained a sad smile.

' _Still so innocent. Blissfully oblivious to how cruel this world really is...'_ his face then fell slightly. _'One day...you'll have face the reality of this world Ruby...'_ but then, he gained a small smile. _'Don't worry though. I'll do my best, to help you all the way. Both of you.'_ he thought, looking over the two sisters.

He then let the two alone, and began making his way through the academy. Walking through the silent hallways of the academy, he reached a pair of large wooden doors. Pushing them open, he was greeted by a number of tables, an empty buffet in the back.

This, was Beacon's cafeteria.

Walking in, Garnet noticed something curious. Behind the buffet, inside the kitchen, a light was on. Narrowing his eyes, he cautiously made his way over to the buffet, subtly grabbing a large kitchen knife on his way.

As he reached the kitchen, he hid just outside the entrance, listening to what could possibly be inside the kitchen at this hour. Hearing some rustling, he deduced it was a person. But what would they be searching in the kitchen. Not taking any risks, Garnet sprung out of his hiding spot, and thrust his knife at the person…

Only to stop mere millimeters from their neck.

"A fine night, isn't it Garnet?" Ozpin asked, completely unfazed by the fact that a single breath could potentially end in his neck being stabbed.

Sighing, Garnet lowered the knife, and put it back inside one of the drawers.

"Goddammit Oz. I thought I told you not to alert me like that." he sighed, Ozpin's face displaying amusement.

"But where's the fun in that?" he asked, chuckling upon seeing Garnet raise and eyebrow. Motioning Garnet over to one of the tables, the two sat down. "So, what are you doing up at this hour Garnet?" he asked, setting his cup on the table.

"I was waiting for all of the students to fall asleep. Could really leave until then." he explained, pouring himself some iced tea, into a cup given to him by Ozpin.

"As yes, I remember seeing a certain Jackdaw on Mrs. Rose's shoulder today. You wouldn't happen to know anything about it?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, knowing the answer already.

"Maybe I do. Maybe I don't." Garnet played along, taking a sip from his drink. Setting his cup down, he looked at Ozpin a little serious. "Speaking of. What was up with you today? You seemed pretty out of it." he remarked. Ozpin leaned back in his chair, and sighed softly.

"It's nothing serious, I assure you. I was just thinking of a couple of things for the future."

"For example?" Garnet inquired.

"For example, Amber's fate." Ozpin said seriously. "We still need to find a replacement. Not to mention the soul transferring device is still pretty unstable."

"That thing..." Garnet said with distaste. "I keep telling you Oz. You need to stop with that thing. Get Ironwood and his scientists to research something else. We don't need it to change Maidens. It's...Not right."

"And yet, you posses the same ability." Ozpin said, making Garnet raise an eyebrow.

"That's different. It's my Semblance." he explained. Ozpin then leaned closer.

"Then why don't you allow us to research it?" he asked, making Garnet mimic his actions.

"So I can become Ironwood's lab rat, and potentially give him a weapon of mass murder? No thank you." he said, leaning back in his chair. "He already has enough toys to play with. Isn't he working on that new android of his now? That thing's capable of producing an Aura. A robot!" he exclaimed. "How long until he actually manages to reproduce an entire human..." he said.

"He's just trying to do what's best for the people." Ozpin explained, but Garnet didn't buy it.

"Oh yeah. Maybe what he **thinks** it's best for the people..." he said, sipping from his drink. The two then descended into silence.

"So." Garnet said "Moving on from the gloom and doom talk for a while. What are you doing here Oz?" he asked.

Ozpin pointed at his can, which was empty.

"I felt the need for some hot chocolate." he explained.

"Don't you have a hot chocolate machine in your room?" Garnet asked confused.

"I'm afraid that is out of order for the moment. So I had to come here to get my sweet hot drink." Ozpin said, pointing to the coffee machine in the kitchen. It had a hot chocolate function. "And, since I was in the kitchen, I decided to go for a midnight snack as well."

"Didn't Glynda tell you to stop with the midnight snacks?" Garnet asked amused. Ozpin smirked.

"But what Glynda doesn't know, can't hurt me." he said proudly.

"Ahem." a new voice got their attention. And it wasn't good for Ozpin.

In the door, stood Glynda herself. Her hair was down, and she was wearing light purple blouse under a black cardigan sweater, along with gray pajama bottoms. And she didn't look too pleased.

"What exactly shouldn't I know, professor Ozpin?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, making Ozpin release a nervous chuckle.

"Uh, well, you see...I can't think of anything..." Ozpin relented, letting his head dip.

Glynda fixed him with a stern look, before sighing deeply. Looking back up, she dropped her strict behavior, and made her way over to the table, sitting at the head of the table, between Garnet and Ozpin.

"Mind if I join you? I can't seem to fall asleep at all."

"By all means, join us. You only **may** end up regretting it." Garnet joked, earning a chuckle from the other two.

"So, how are the students?" Glynda asked.

"Sleeping like little babies." Garnet answered simply, taking a sip from his cup again.

"And those two?" Ozpin added, as Garnet put the cup on the table.

"Same. But I swear, it's like their exact copies of their mothers. Well, Ruby is. Yang only has Raven's looks and temper. At that, Ozpin perked up. In a serious way.

"Speaking of." he said, getting Garnet's attention. "I've received an important message from Mistral. Apparently, bandit activity has increased around the city of Shion. While the village itself isn't in any immediate danger, there are rumors that there's a bandit village in the woods surrounding Shion." Ozpin explained.

"So you want me to go there and exterminate the village?" Garnet fathomed a guess. Ozpin nodded his head.

"Exactly. However, there's one more thing I would like you to check." he said, Garnet gesturing for him to continue. "I would like you to pay Raven a visit, and try to see if you can find out what her plans are. You're currently the only one who can get her to talk, as she's far more reasonable with you, than with any of us. Even Qrow."

" **Especially** Qrow." Garnet corrected, making Ozpin nod his head. Sighing, Garnet took another swing of his drink, almost emptying it. "Alright, fine. I'll go and see what she's up too. When am I leaving?" he asked, Glynda answering this time.

"In a week. Also, you'll be having a Partner for this mission." she said, surprising Garnet.

"Stella's back?" he asked, however, Glynda shook her head.

"I'm afraid Stella has encountered some other, smaller obstacles on her mission, so she'll have to spend a couple more weeks on it." Ozpin explained.

"Oh well." Garnet sighed. "Then who are you pairing me with?"

"It was a request of James, actually. He wants one of his new admirals to come along with you, to learn a bit of Mistral's terrain and wildlife. Tips and tricks for the future, if you will." Ozpin explained. Nodding his head, Garnet raised another question.

"Does this person have to come along with me, when I go after Raven?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Ozpin shook his head a bit.

"Preferably not. While Raven knows not to attack you or any of your companions, no one knows of what the other tribe members would do. I don't want any needless bloodshed. And is she does want to tag along, then make sure she's protected. She's quite influential, for both Atlas's army, and Ironwoods reputation." Ozpin said, surprising Garnet.

"Man, this **female** Admiral is something huh? What's her name anyway?" he asked.

"Winter Schnee." Ozpin said simply, surprising Garnet even more.

"'Winter Schnee'? As in, the eldest daughter of Jacques Schnee? And the older sister of Weiss Schnee, who's currently sleeping in our ballroom?" he asked, looking for confirmation, in case he didn't hear correctly.

"That's correct. She's has recently been promoted to the rank of Admiral, and was assigned by James himself as his bodyguard." Ozpin explained.

"Huh...Well I certainly expected one of the Schnee family members to come to Beacon at one point, but I never thought that one of them would enroll the army in Atlas. Their eldest daughter no less..." Garnet mumbled, his face displaying a little admiration. "Makes you wonder what was going through her head."

"Well, that how things stand." Ozpin stated, leaning back into his chair. "She'll be arriving by Bullhead on the day of your departure. Also, James wants you to keep constant contact with him, to report on how she's doing."

"What am I, her babysitter?!" Garnet exclaimed. "She's a grown woman, she can take care of her own stuff. If Tinkerwood wants a status report, then he can call and ask the damn woman herself!" he said, crossing his arms.

Ozpin and Glynda looked at each other, before sighing. He was right, and they knew it.

"You know that's how James is." Glynda told Garnet. "He always wants to have a grasp on the situation is all."

"Well, if he wants a grasp on something, then he can grasp his junk, and see if he still has some balls. He's sending her to gain experience in an unknown field, and yet he's pampering her like a helicopter parent. He needs to have more trust in own subordinates dammit." Garnet said, bringing his cup to his lips. "Oh yeah, by the way. What are you planning to do for the Initiation?" he asked, drinking his tea.

"We'll launch the students off the side of the cliff into the Emerald Forest." Ozpin said simply…

"PFFFF-!"

And Garnet immediately spit out his drink, choking on it a bit, requiring Glynda's help.

"*cough* Thanks Glyn..." he said, turning back to Ozpin. "I know I said things about having trust in subordinates and shit, but isn't that a little too much? You're sending kids into a Grimm infested forest. Off a cliff no less. How are they gonna land?" he asked.

"Using their own landing strategy of course." Ozpin said naturally.

"You know...When you say that, I can't help but think of Jaune. And I keep seeing his face becoming a part of something. Tree bark, the ground, a cliff of some sort, or, in a worst case scenario, the mask of a Grimm. That ain't gonna end well. The poor guy isn't even officially ready for this. Are you trying to kill him?" Garnet asked, Ozpin seemingly not bothered.

"I'm well aware of his entrance papers. But, I see potential in him. So I am willing to give him a chance." he explained.

"Alright then. You're the boss after all." Garnet sighed.

The three then began having an idle chat, with Ozpin finally getting his hot cocoa. They also had a midnight snack together, prepared by Glynda, with some help from Garnet. After an hour or so, the three returned to their rooms, and went to sleep, ready for tomorrow.

 **And that's a wrap!**

 **First, thank you all for reading~!**

 **Now, we have covered the first two episodes or RWBY.**

 **Ruby has gained new friends today! In the form of Jaune and...A bird? Bet you haven't seen that before. ...I'm honestly not sure. I personally have never seen this, as I have read almost all RWBY OC stories out there.**

 **So, Cozmo has begun bonding with Ruby and Blake surprisingly. I like writing these cute interactions. Hope you do too~ And don't worry, Yang will be on Cozmo's good list in the future. Even Weiss if you wish for it.**

 **Then, some more things have been revealed. Things RWBY fans already know about, but keep in mind. This is going on behind the scenes, as I think it would have went in the actual show. Also, I dropped a big hint on what Garnet's semblance is, so you won't get confused or angry at some things coming in the future.**

 **So with that said, a mini OC arc has also been announced in this chapter, so look forward to that. I personally foresee some pretty cool things.**

 **If you want, feel free to suggest what you want to see during that mini Arc! Keep in mind that the mini Arc will only span for around one in-series week or so. Which means they should be returning, by the time team RWBY faces off against Roman.**

 **So with all of that said, seeya next chapter~**


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Time for Initiation

Morning.

Rays of sun began shining into Beacon's ballroom, beginning to stir some of the students awake.

The first to wake up, was none other than the black haired beauty, Blake. Shuffling a bit in her sleeping bag, trying her damn best to get rid of the rays of sun, she tried to go back to sleep, just to get that tiny bit more sleep, but it was already too late.

Relenting, she simply laid on her back for a bit, to get her bearings together. Slowly opening her amber eyes, she turned on her side, and took a glance at the clock. It read 5:30.

"...Early." she mumbled.

Sitting up, she looked around. Almost everyone else was still asleep. Almost, everyone.

Caa…

Turning her head around, she noticed none other than Beacon's friendly feathered animal, stretching his wings, releasing something akin to a yawn.

The newly named Cozmo.

Turning his head, he surveyed his surroundings. Then, he noticed Blake looking at him, so he began making his way over to her. But, because he was still sleepy, his walk became more of a waddle, similar to a penguin's, something Blake subconsciously found cute. Arriving at his destination, he hopped on Blake's lap.

Caw!

He 'greeted' Blake, raising his right wing to emphasize the point. Blake raised her palm, allowing Cozmo to hop on, and raised his closer to her face. Then, she allowed a tiny smile to appear, and began rubbing Cozmo's beak, something the Jackdaw enjoyed very much.

"Hey there little guy. Sleep well?" Blake asked, bringing Cozmo on the same level as her.

He simply raised his wing, and pointed towards Ruby and Yang's sleeping bodies.

"Zzz...Cookies...Zzz"

"zzZ...Boys….ZzzZ"

The sisters were currently busy in dreamland, the sleepy mumbling being accompanied by light snoring. It wouldn't bother a normal person, but Cozmo, being a bird of a much smaller frame, was a different story. Especially since Ruby had kept him near her while sleeping, basically forcing him to endure the night.

"So I guess that's a no." Blake remarked, looking at Cozmo. Said bird tilted his head to the right, then to the left, signaling a 'so-so-' gesture.

Looking around the room once more, Blake released a little breath.

"Well, since no one appears to wake up any time soon, I guess I have the showers all to myself." she remarked. Standing up, she placed Cozmo on the ground, and grabbed a tower from her luggage. As she began walking away, Cozmo tried to follow, only to be stopped by Blake.

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. The bird cawed, gesturing to Blake using his head, meaning 'after you'. Releasing a brief chuckle, Blake shook her head.

"Sorry little guy, no males allowed" she said, forbidding Cozmo from following her in the showers. She then picked him up, and placed him on her sleeping bag, where he nestled right away. "Now, wait here."

And with that, she left Cozmo alone with the sleeping students, herself heading toward the showers.

Left in silence, Cozmo looked around the room. But, since he was quite small in stature, he could see past the first row of sleeping bodies in front of him. So, hopping on top of Blake's pillow, he spread his wings, and took off, flying on top of the microphone left on stage. From there, he scanned the room, looking at the students.

Out of all students, a handful caught Cozmo's eye. First, of course, were the two sisters Cozmo would be hanging out with from now on. Then, he noticed the familiar white hair, belonging to the only Schnee in Beacon. Looking a little further away, he noticed Jaune. However, it wasn't his hair that caught Cozmo's eye, it was his light blue onesie. A little further away, Cozmo noticed bright red hair, something the bird found quite interesting. He also noticed bright orange hair, next to raven black hair, coupled with a pink streak.

Expect for these students, no other caught Cozmo's attention. Blake didn't count, as she wasn't present.

Remembering Blake, Cozmo got curious. Hopping off the microphone, he flew past the sleeping masses, arriving at the door. Which was only ajar. Mustering all strength it could in it's little body, Cozmo surprisingly managed to push the door open, only slightly, allowing him to waddle out of the ballroom, and into the hallways.

There, he listened a bit, hearing the sound of running water coming from his left. Waddling over, he came face to face, with a closed door, once again. However, this time, the door was truly closed. Looking around, he saw no other way to enter, or to open the door, so he gave up.

Still curious however, he waddled down the hallway, disappearing into the school soon after.

A while later, the door to the ballroom opened again, Blake stepping back in, a towel around her shoulders, her hair still damp. Walking over to her sleeping bag, she noticed Beacon's resident bird was missing. Looking around, she tried to find him, to no avail.

Thinking he must have wandered off somewhere, she figured he'll return at some point. So, she grabbed a change of clothes, and left to change.

After she finished changing, Blake packed her stuff, and left the ballroom, most likely hanging outside in the courtyard, until it was time for Initiation. And a while later, the rest of the students began waking up.

However, for a certain raven haired boy, that also meant he had to deal with his hyperactive childhood friend's morning antics.

"Oh, I know! We should come up with some sort of distress signal! To ensure we can find each other in the forest!" a bubbly red haired girl exclaimed, excitedly bouncing around the raven haired boy, who was busy checking his weapons inside the locker room.

"Say, can you imitate a sloth Ren?" she asked, pointing at Ren.

"Nora..." he began, sliding his two pistols into his sleeves. "I don't think sloths make a lot of noise." he pointed out, looking at his childhood friend.

Nora seemed to deflate for a moment, before her face lit right back up.

"But that's why it's perfect! No one will expect we're working together!" she exclaimed.

"Come on Nora, let's go" Ren chuckled, closing his locker, and beginning to make his way out of the lockers.

"But not 'together' together" Nora giggled, following right behind Ren. As they left, they passed by Ruby and Yang, who were currently getting their things ready for the Initiation.

"Huh. Wonder what those two were so worked up about" Ruby mumbled, as Ren and Nora passed them.

"Who knows..." Yang replied, as she finished getting ready. "So! You seem awfully chipper this morning" she remarked, looking back at her sister. Ruby giggled, and reached in her locker.

"Yep! No more awkward small talk or 'getting to know you' stuff. Today, I let the sweetheart do the talking" she saying, pulling Crescent Rose out of her locker, bringing it close to her face, stroking as one would a pet. "Though I'm a little worried as to where Cozmo went..."

"You mean the bird?" the busty blonde asked, checking her gauntlet's, Ember Celica.

"His name's Cozmo now. Blake named him last night remember?" her sister reprimanded, checking some ammo clips in her locker.

"Right then. Cozmo" Yang said dismissively. "Look sure he's fine. He's probably been living here at Beacon for a while. Wasn't it him that brought you and Jaune to the amphitheater?" she asked, getting a nod from the redhead. "See? He knows this place better than we do. He'll be just fine. I'm sure we'll see him again real soon"

"Yeah, maybe you're right..." the younger sister mumbled.

"Ruby, if you want to grow up, you'll have to meet new people. You can't rely on your bird friend to save you in an emergency. You'll have to learn to work with other people." Yang said, finishing her preparation up.

"Ugh, you sound just like dad!" her sister groaned, throwing Crescent Rose back into the locker. "First of all, what does meeting new people have to do with fighting? And second of all, don't underestimate Cozmo. You saw how smart he is. I'm sure he can help somehow. Have you seen Zwei? He's all cuddly on the surface, but he can kick any Grimm's butt if things went down. And third of all, I don't need people to help me grow up. I drink milk!" she stated proudly, crossing her arms.

"Okay, but about when we form teams? You can't be on the same team as Cozmo, since he isn't a student, or a human to begin with" Yang asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"Then..uh, I don't know. I'll just be on your team or something.." Ruby replied, not quite sure of what she would really do.

"Well, maybe you should try being on someone else's team..eh?" the busty blonde began playing with her hair awkwardly.

"My dearest sister Yang Xiao Long, are you perhaps implying that you do not wish to be on the same team as me!?" Ruby questioned, getting all up in Yang's face, narrowing her silver eyes.

"W-What?!" Yang exclaimed, waving her hands. "O-Of course I do, I just thought that...I don't know, maybe it would help you break out of your shell!"

"What the!?" Ruby burst out "I don't need to break out of my shell! That just absolutely -"

"-Ridiculous!" Jaune exclaimed, looking at a piece of paper. "There's no way I put my stuff in locker 636 yesterday! I'd have remembered having to count that high. Why did this have to happen today..." he groaned, searching for the locker containing his gear. In his search, he passed by Weiss, who was talking with another girl with bright red hair, wearing a spartan outfit.

"So, Pyrrha, have you given any thought as to who's team you'd like to be on?" Weiss asked, as Pyrrha equipped the last pieces of her armor. "You know, since everyone must be eager to unite with such a strong, well known individual such as yourself." she praised, hoping to soften the spartan.

"Hmm...I'm not quite sure" the girl admitted "I was planning on just letting the chips fall where they may."

"Well, I was thinking maybe we could be on a team together." Pyrrha said.

' _Perfect!'_ Weiss thought, as a devious looking storm cloud formed behind her. _'The smartest girl in class, combined with the strongest girl in class! Together we will be unstoppable!'_ devious thoughts, for a girl trying to be a keeper of peace _'I can see it already. We'll be popular, we'll be celebrities, we'll get perfect grades! Nothing could come between us now!'_

"You know what else is great? Me, Jaune Arc!" however, as Weiss will soon learn, if anything could go wrong, it most likely will.

Case in point, the blonde haired boy appeared out of nowhere, trying to look cool, leaning on one of the lockers behind Weiss.

"Nice to meet you!" he greeted, as Weiss sighed.

"You again?" she complained, not in the mood for Jaune's unreachable dreams.

"Nice to meet you Jaune!" Pyrrha greeted, being the ever friendly neighbor. Unfortunately, she was completely ignored by the dense blonde.

"Yeah, yeah. So, Weiss! Couldn't help but overhear your fondness of me the other day." he slid next to heiress, flexing his muscles, trying to look cool.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." Weiss groaned, as her palm hit her forehead.

"Don't worry, no need to be embarrassed" Jaune replied, completely misunderstanding what Weiss meant. "So, been hearin' rumors about teams! Thought you and I would make a good one. So, what do you think?" he leaned near her face, causing her to pull back.

"Actually, I think the teams are comprised of four each, so -" Pyrrha quipped.

"You don't say." Jaune leaned in front of Pyrrha "Well then, hot stuff, play your cards right, and maybe you'll end up on the winning team" he boasted, referring to his own team. Pyrrha smiled, seemingly completely fine with the idea. However, before anything could happen, Weiss intervened

"Alright, Jaune, was it?" she asked, pushing Pyrrha and Jaune apart. "Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"

"Not in the slightest, Snow Angel" he replied.

"This is Pyrrha." she elaborated, gesturing toward the redhead.

"Hello again!" said redhead greeted again, waving happily.

"She graduated top of her class at Sanctum." Weiss stated, matter-of-factly.

"Never heard of it" the blonde replied right away, shrugging his shoulders.

"She's won the Mistral Regional Tournament four years in a row...That's a new record!" she declared, hoping Jaune would finally realize who Pyrrha really was. Unfortunately, he didn't. Giving up, she stated the most well known fact out there.

"She's on the front of every Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes Box!" she exclaimed, waving her arms around violently, making Pyrrha and Jaune have to take a step back to avoid it.

Then, a light turned on above Jaune's head, as he gasped.

"That's you?" he pointed at Pyrrha, like a true fangirl. "They only do that for star athletes and cartoon characters!"

"Yeah, it was pretty cool. Sadly, the cereal aren't very healthy for you" she revealed, before Weiss butt in again.

"So, after hearing all of this, do you still think you're in a position to ask her to be on your team?" she asked, deflating Jaune.

"I guess not..." he mumbled, before perking back up. "But at least I didn't freak out at the sight of a simple bird." he pointed out, making Weiss turn red with embarrassment.

"Wait, a bird?" Pyrrha asked, confusion clear on her face. Weiss quickly turned back, and tried to explain.

"It's not like that! That bird attacked me I swear!" she exclaimed.

"Actually, I'm pretty sure it just tried to get rid of the Dust you were waving in front of Ruby. At least that's what it looked like from my spot" Jaune quipped, making Weiss turn back to him.

" **You** should kindly stop talking before I make you!" she threatened, her glare drilling into Jaune, who took a step back.

Caw!

"Oh God not again!" she yelped, jumping behind Pyrrha, as soon as she heard the oh-so familiar caw.

And true to the call, Beacon's resident bird flew down, landing on Jaune's shoulder.

"Oh, it's you again!" he exclaimed.

The bird raised it's wing, and cawed a greeting, surprising Pyrrha.

"This is the bird you're afraid of?" she asked, turning back to Weiss. The heiress, of course, shook her head strongly.

"I'm not afraid of that creature!..I'm afraid it'll attack me again" she grumbled, staring the bird down wearily. Said bird simply tilted it's head to the side, completely oblivious to Weiss's glare.

Noticing the familiar hair color, Cozmo hopped off Jaune's shoulder, onto Pyrrha's, causing Weiss to take a step back. Though a little surprised at the action, Pyrrha wasn't bothered by the bird on her shoulder.

Looking into Pyrrha's emerald eyes, the bird released a caw, raising a wing again.

"I take it that was a greeting?" she mumbled, confused. Her answer came in the form of Cozmo nodding his head, surprising the spartan. "You understood that?" she earned another nod. "Amazing..." she marveled, petting Cozmo's beak, something he enjoyed very much.

"I know right? It actually helped me and someone else get to the amphitheater yesterday." Jaune noted, remembering how the bird helped him and Ruby get to the amphitheater in no time flat.

"Really?" getting a nod from Jaune, Pyrrha looked back a the bird "You must be really smart then!" she smiled, Cozmo covering his head with his wings, as a sign of embarrassment, making Pyrrha marvel even more.

"Can we please stop marveling at some stupid bird, and return to the matter at hand?!" Weiss exclaimed, only to yelp when Cozmo cawed angrily at her, not appreciating being called stupid.

"Well, we can." Pyrrha noted, looking at Jaune. "And I wouldn't mind being on your team Jaune. I think you could make for a great leader!" she encouraged.

"D'oh, stop it!" Jaune exclaimed happily, flattered at Pyrrha's remark.

"Yes, please stop it. This kind of behavior should not be encouraged!" she reprimanded, even though she herself was trying to do the exact same thing earlier.

"Well, it sounds like Pyrrha's on board for team Jaune. Spots are filling up quickly Snow Angel. If you play your cards right, you could score a place on the team too. I'm certain I can pull some strings" Jaune said, leaning in front of Weiss again.

"Alright, you're a bit too close!" Weiss pulled back "Pyrrha, perhaps a little help please?!"

And as soon the request was said, Jaune was picked up by a flying red spear, nailing him into a wall a little further away.

"-I'm sorry!" the spartan called awkwardly, as Cozmo face-winged, at the unorthodox method.

It was then that Glynda's voice resounded through the intercom.

"Would all first year students please report to Beacon Cliff for Initiation." she announced. "Again, would all first year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately."

Weiss then left the lockers, passing by the pinned Jaune, ignoring him completely. Pyrrha, who was a step behind her, yanked her spear out of the wall, releasing Jaune.

"It was nice meeting you." she said, passing Jaune, as Cozmo left her shoulder and landed on his.

"..Likewise." he sighed, after hitting the ground with a thud.

"Havin' some trouble there, Ladykiller?" he heard Yang's voice, as the two sisters approached. Ruby reached out, and while Jaune thought she was going to help him up, she actually grabbed Cozmo from his shoulder, and hugged him tightly, the bird visibly sweatdropping.

"Cozmo! Where were you this morning? I was worried!" she exclaimed, crushing the bird with her hug.

"Sis you can break bones with your hugs. You'll crush him at this rate" Yang pointed out, as Cozmo was desperately trying to escape Ruby's crushing bear hug. Realizing the fact, she sweatdropped, before loosening the hug. And as she did, Cozmo flew from her grasp, on Yang's shoulder, causing Ruby to sweatdrop.

"Sorry 'bout that Cozmo..." she apologized. The bird cawed, and nestled on Yang's shoulder, making the blonde grin.

"Looks like I'm the favorite now eh?" she joked.

Ruby shook her head, and finally reached her hand out for Jaune.

"My dad said all women looked for is confidence..." he mumbled depressingly "Where did I go wrong…?"

"Well, for starters, 'Snow Angel' wasn't the best choice." Yang remarked, as Ruby helped Jaune pick himself up, before leaving the lockers.

Back on his feet, Ruby slung Jaune arm over her shoulder, and helped him out of the lockers.

A while later, on Beacon Cliff, the students were lined up, preparing for the Initiation. Currently, Ozpin was holding the speech, his cocoa mug always present.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors. And today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest" he explained, before Glynda took over.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams" she addressed the students. "Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teams...Today." she declared.

"What? Aw..." Ruby groaned, releasing a scared noise.

"These teammates will be with you for the duration of your stay here at Beacon. So it's in your best interest to pair up with someone with whom you are able to work well with." he explained. "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." he quickly dropped the bomb, surprising the students.

"What?!" Ruby exclaimed shocked.

"See? I told you!" Nora told her friend Ren, who was little away from Ruby.

"After you've paired up, make your way to the northern end of the forest" Ozpin continued undeterred. "You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die." he said seriously, making Jaune gulp, and release a nervous chuckle.

"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation. But our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path, containing several relics. Each pair must choose one, and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately." Ozpin finished explaining. "However, before you ask any questions, there's another matter I would like to address." he said, as the students looked amongst each other, wondering what else there was to say.

"This year, I have to decided to include a little spin to the Initiation." he reached behind him, pulling out a small object, presenting it to the students. It was a chess piece, specifically, the white King. "The black King piece, is hidden somewhere in the area. The team who manages to acquire the King piece, will be awarded a special prize after the Initiation." he said, putting the white King back in his pocket. "It is in your best interest to acquire the King piece." he said, giving the students the incentive to do their best in the initiation

"Another thing I'd like to address real quick" he said, looking over to Yang. "Ms. Xiao Long." he called.

"Uh, yeah?" she replied awkwardly, not sure why the headmaster called her name out of everyone. Fortunately for her, she wasn't in any trouble.

"I'm afraid our resident Jackdaw cannot aid you during Initiation." he said, gesturing to the sleeping Jackdaw on her shoulder. Realizing she wasn't actually in trouble, on her very first day, Yang sighed relieved. She then jerked her shoulder up, startling the bird awake.

"Cozmo, you have to get off." she said, as the bird looked around.

"Cozmo, is it?" Ozpin asked, amused. He then extended his arm. "I'm afraid you will have to sit with us until Ms. Xiao Long and Ms. Rose return." he smiled.

The bird stared at Ozpin for a second, before spreading it's wings, and hopping off of Yang's shoulder, onto Glynda's, leaving Ozpin hanging.

Chuckling, Ozpin shook his head, before regaining his poker face, and addressing the students again.

"Now, with all side matters out of the way, are there any questions?" he asked.

Jaune was the only one to raise his hand.

"Yeah, um sir-"

"Good! Now, take your positions." he declared, ignoring poor Jaune. Karma.

As the other students got their weapons ready, stretched and/or assumed a stance appropriate for battling, Jaune's hand remained raised, as he tried again.

"Um, sir? I've got a question." he tried again, as Weiss was catapulted off the cliff. "So, this landing strategy thing, uh, w-what is it?" he asked nervously, as other students were catapulted off the cliff. "You're like, dropping us off or something?" he asked, oblivious to the fact that students were **catapulted** off the cliff right next to him.

"No. You will be falling." Ozpin deadpanned, as another student was sent off.

"Oh, I see." Jaune scratched the back of his head. "So, did you like, hand out parachutes or something?" he asked, as even more students were being thrown off the cliff.

"Wohooo!" Nora called out, as she was sent flying off the cliff.

"No, you will be using your own landing strategy" Glynda said, petting Cozmo's beak, as the bird fell asleep on her shoulder.

"Uhuh..Yeah." the blonde replied, as the third boy to his left was sent off, leaving only him, Ruby and Yang.

Speaking on the busty blonde, she pulled out a pair of aviator glasses, put them on, and winked at her sister, before being thrown off the cliff, followed by a smirking Ruby.

"So, uh, what exactly is this landing strateGYYY!" Jaune tried to say, before being catapulted off the cliff like the rest of the students.

Looking back at the students free falling in the distance, Ozpin sipped his cocoa.

"I'd say this years Initiation is bound to be a very interesting one, wouldn't you agree Garnet?" he asked.

"Well, you just catapulted students off of a cliff into a Grimm infested forest." Garnet's voice resounded, close but not actually there. "If anything, it was extremely entertaining so far."

"Well, I do try" Ozpin joked, sipping from his mug once again. He then glanced at the sleeping bird on Glynda's shoulder. "You weren't actually going to try to aid Ms. Xiao Long and her sister, were you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

It took a moment, before Cozmo opened his eyes, as the left one gleamed red. Then, Garnet's voice was heard coming from the bird.

"I have faith in their abilities. I know they'll do just fine." he said. "But I do have a question."

"Shoot." Ozpin said.

"How many students do you think will actually go looking for that King piece?" Garnet asked amused. The headmaster shrugged his shoulders.

"Who knows. You should be asking yourself, who you'll give that King piece to" he smirked, glancing at Cozmo. The bird lifted it's wing, revealing a shiny black King piece.

"I don't know to be honest. There's quite a number of students that got my attention this morning." he said. "Almost saw some goods too...Stupid locked doors" he mumbled sadly, the teachers looking at the bird questioningly. "What? No one would suspect a bird! It's genius!" he exclaimed.

"How are you 22?" Glynda sighed, shaking her head in disapproval. She then gained a stern look, and slapped her riding crop on the birds head, not hard enough to actually hurt him. "Perving on our female first years, minors at that no less, is strictly prohibited!" she chastised.

"Oww! Careful with that! A bird can't take the same punishment a human can! Don't damage it!" Garnet voice exclaimed, as the bird covered it's head with it's wings.

Glynda only huffed, and turned her head to the side.

"Garnet, she is right. Please don't go around spying on the female students while they're bathing. You've got Ms. Goodwitch after all~" he sang, making the busty teacher do a double take, her face turning red with embarrassment.

"Professor Ozpin!" she shouted, embarrassed, as Garnet's voice laughed.

"Ahaha, you're right on that Ozpin!" he laughed, before it suddenly stopped, as Glynda gripped the bird by it's throat.

"I'm certain you're familiar with my methods of punishment, Garnet..." she growled, applying pressure to her grip. "Would you like to see just how far I can take them?"

If a head could come off by shaking, Cozmo's would've taken off long ago. Nodding, Glynda let the bird go, who immediately flew over to Ozpin's shoulder. Chuckling, the headmaster turned to Glynda.

"It was merely a joke Glynda. No need to take it so seriously."

"Humpf!" she turned her back to the two, and focused on the camera footage playing on her Scroll.

"I suggest you go and watch the student's performance Garnet. You're probably safer there." Ozpin whispered, but Glynda still heard it, and growled.

"Yeah...you're probably right. Seeya!" Garnet's voice called, before Cozmo took off after the students in the Emerald Forest, leaving the two teachers alone on the top of the cliff.

' _Go Garnet. I'll try my best to calm her down in the meanwhile'_ Ozpin thought, looking back at Glynda...

Only to see her hissing at him, like an angry cat.

' _That, may be harder than expected, however...'_ he sweatdropped, taking a sip of his hot cocoa.

Soaring high above the Emerald Forest, Cozmo was observing the free falling students, seeing them start their landing methods.

"Birdie no!" he heard Ruby exclaim.

..Of course, humans falling at high speed from the sky are a bane to all winged creatures, so the natural flying traffic was bound to suffer some casualties, as young Ruby just noticed.

And speaking of the red head. After shattering an innocent crow into a bunch of feathers, she pulled out Crescent Rose, and shot a couple of rounds in the general direction of the Emerald Forest, in order to slow her fall down. Then, she unfurled her weapon in it's scythe mode, and used it to grab on to one of the tree branches, breaking her free fall. She then unhooked her scythe from the branch, and jumped down into the Emerald Forest.

In the mean while, Weiss used her family's glyphs to break her fall, and to safely climb down into the Forest.

Ren, Nora falling right beside him, pulled out his bladed pistols, and used them to hook onto one of the trees, sliding down the trunk like one would with a zip line. Safely sliding to the ground, he let go, and dusted himself off, before hearing an explosion into the distance. Who could that be I wonder…

Carelessly shooting Ember Celica's explosive rounds, Yang was having a blast, propelling herself forward above the Emerald Forest, reducing the distance she had to walk to the temple with every explosion.

"Wohoo!" she exclaimed happily, shooting one final explosive round, before going through the foliage of a tree, emerging safely on the other side, nailing the landing.

"Nailed it!" case in point.

As the blonde brawler shot ahead, beginning to make her way through the Emerald Forest, Cozmo turned his sights on the red headed spartan, Pyrrha.

Using her shield, she tanked through a couple of trees, before safely rolling to a stop on a large branch. She then pulled out her spear in it's shotgun form, and looked around through the visor. Then, she noticed poor Jaune, falling down like a sac of potatoes, screaming hopelessly.

So, being the good Samaritan she is, she turned her shotgun, back into a spear, used her arm to line it up with Jaune, and threw that sucker as hard as possible, both the spear and Jaune disappearing in the trees.

Until she heard the faint sound of the spear nailing into a tree, followed by Jaune's voice.

"Thank you!" he called, grateful for the save.

"I'm sorry!" Pyrrha called back, hopefully apologizing for the oh-so brilliant idea of throwing a sharp, pointy spear at someone who was falling down at high speed.

Up in the sky, Cozmo face winged yet again at the method. Looking around, he saw that Pyrrha and Jaune were the last to land, so he began slowly descending closer to the tree tops, to continue observing the initiation.

Inside the Emerald Forest, our young Huntress in training was running through the forest, searching for her sister.

' _Gotta find Yang, gotta find Yang, gotta fiiiind-'_ "Yaaang!" Ruby called, hoping her sister would hear it.

As she was racing through the forest, she began thinking on what Ozpin said about the teams.

' _This is bad, this is really baad...What if I can't find her? What if someone finds her first?'_ she despaired, before she remembered Jaune. _'Well, Jaune could work too. He's nice, and funny. Don't think he's that good in a fight, though...'_ her face fell again, before lifting back up, as she remembered Blake. _'Oh! But what about Blake? So mysterious, so calm. Plus she likes books!'_ but the idea got shot down as well _'Buut, I don't think I'd be able to hold a conversation with her..'_

Shaking her head, she tried remembering anyone else that caught her eye. Anyone who she could be partnered up with. As it stand, however, Fate already had the answer to her dilemma. But, it usually is what one would least expect.

Suddenly coming to a halt, Ruby met the one who would be her Partner for the rest of her stay at Beacon.

Staring at one another in silence, Weiss abruptly turns around, and begins to walk off.

"Wait! We're are you going?" Ruby called after her, falling on deaf ears. "Oh, we're supposed to be teammates..." she mumbled sadly, looking down at the ground.

A little further away, Weiss was currently making her way through some bushes.

"Phew!" she breathed out, having made her way into a little clearing, and away from Ruby. But, Fate can't be avoided so easily.

"Ugh, come on you stupid urg...Come on!" she heard Jaune's voice. Looking up, she noticed Jaune, hung up to the tree by Pyrrha's spear, trying his best to pull it out and free himself. Looking down, he noticed Weiss, and waved awkwardly.

Yet again, Weiss spun on her heel, and walked back to Ruby.

"By no means does this make us friends." she grabbed Ruby's hood, and began dragging her along. Said girl, raised her hand in the air.

"Yay, you came back!" she exclaimed happily.

"Hey, come back! Who's gonna help me get down from here!" Jaune called, as Weiss and Ruby disappeared in the distance.

"Jaune?" the blonde heard Pyrrha's voice, seeing her just below him. "Do you...have any spots left on your team?" she smirked, crossing her arms.

"Very funny.." he huffed, turning his head to the side. But, in the end he looked back at Pyrrha and smiled, signaling they're partnership.

Back with Ruby and Weiss…

"Hey, what's the hurry?" Ruby called, trotting behind Weiss. The heiress only spared her a glance.

"I will not let my mission be delayed because you're too slow!" she called "I swear, if I get a bad grade of your- what the!?" she exclaimed, as Ruby suddenly appeared right in front of her, waving her 'paws' cutely.

"I'm not slow see? You don't have to worry about me!" Ruby stated proudly. Weiss looked back for a second confused, wondering how Ruby appeared so fast.

"Just because I don't know how to deal with people, doesn't mean I don't know how to deal with monsters. You're about to see whole different side of me today, Weiss!" Ruby exclaimed, throwing a hand around Weiss's shoulders. "And after all is said and done, you'll be like 'Wow! That Ruby girl is really cool...and I'd like to be her friend." she explained her fantasy, before suddenly disappearing in a cloud of red petals.

"You may be fast, but you still excel at wasting time!" Weiss called, being left alone in the forest. In the silence of the Forest, she heard rustling coming from around her.

"Ruby?" she called, looking around cautiously. However, her answer came in the form of even more rustling, as pairs of red eyes appeared behind her. "...Ruby?" she tried again.

This time however, her only answer were hungry growls, coming from the bushes surrounding her. And as she turned around, she noticed the red eyes, staring her down. And from the bushes, a tall creature emerged. It had a slight humanoid frame, black fur, a white bone mask and red eyes. This, was Beowolf. One of the different types of Grimm, living in the Emerald Forest.

"Helloooo?" Yang called, walking alone through the forest. "Is anyone out there? Hellooooo?"

"I'm getting bored here." she mumbled, coming to a halt. Answering the call, a rustling was heard in the bushes. "Is someone there?" Yang asked quickly, turning around. Walking over to a bush, she peered over.

"Ruby is that you?" she exclaimed happily. However, as a beast towered over her, snarling dangerously, Yang's expression fell.

"Nope." she deadpanned, before rolling out of the way, as a giant Grimm came barely through, swiping at her.

Standing back up, Yang activated her gauntlets again, before doing a back flip to avoid the incoming swipe of another Ursa Grimm. As the first Ursa came at Yang again, she reared her arm back, punching the Grimm using an explosive round, sending it flying backward.

Repeating the process, she uppercut the second Ursa, before kicking it back on the ground.

"You guys wouldn't happen to have seen a girl in a red hood would you?" the blonde asked, as the Ursa's stood back up and growled at her. "You could have just said no!" she exclaimed, jumping back before Ursa could dig it's claws in her.

Landing back, she laughed.

"Man, you guys couldn't hit the broad side of a ba-" however, she stopped when she saw a single strand of blonde hair falling down in front of her. As the strand touched the ground, Yang's eyes turned scarlet red.

"You..." she growled, as the Ursa's looked at each other confused.

"You monsters!" she exploded, activating her Semblance, launching herself at the two Grimm, beginning to positively wreck them.

An enhanced uppercut to the Grimm, lifted it off the ground, before she sent it flying backward, following up with a flurry of explosive punches. With a last strike, Yang sent the Ursa crashing through multiple trees. Looking back, she saw the second Ursa ready to pounce.

Reloading her weapons, she she readied herself to give the Grimm a lesson too.

"What, you want some too?!" Yang shouted, as the Ursa stood on it's hind legs and roared.

However, it abruptly stopped, before it toppled forward, dead. Looking closely, Yang saw a blade stuck in the Grimm's back. And to that blade, a black ribbon was tied, which was held by none other than Blake.

Pulling on the ribbon, she unhooked her blade from the Grimm, catching it in her hand. Putting her weapon back, she looked over at Yang, and smirked. Said blonde shrugged her shoulders.

"I could have taken him." she called, as the Grimm's carcass began decomposing into smoke.

Back with Weiss, she was busy defending against a pack of Beowolves, her partner nowhere to be seen.

' _Remember your training Weiss.'_ the heiress readied her weapon, Myrtenaster. _'Head up, shoulders back, right foot forward..'_ she adjusted her stance… _'Not that forward'_ sliding her foot back slightly. _'Slow your breathing, wait for the right time to strike…'_ she remembered, narrowing her eyes.

"And...now!" she exclaimed, readying Myrtenaster, before she shot forth. However, Ruby suddenly appeared in front of her, slashing the Beowolf with her scythe, causing Weiss to stumbled and accidentally slash at a tree using Fire Dust, setting the poor tree ablaze.

This distracted Ruby for a second, before a Beowolf swiped at her, sending her crashing into Weiss.

"Hey, watch it!" she exclaimed, returning her attention on the Grimm.

"Excuse you, for attacking out of turn! I could have killed you!" Weiss reprimanded, shaking her head disapprovingly.

"Afraid you'll have to try harder than that." Ruby mumbled, as the two set their sights back on the surrounding Grimm. Specifically, the Alpha Beowolf growling in front of them. As Ruby reloaded her weapon, the tree Weiss set fire to fell forward, right in front of the girls,

"We have to go!" Weiss said, grabbing Ruby's hand, and getting them out of there, as the Grimm ran away through and from the fire, howling.

After running away from the fire, they both stopped, panting.

"What was that?!" Ruby exclaimed. "That should have been easy!"

"It would have been, if you hadn't made me stumble and set the forest on fire!" Weiss retorted angrily. "Has no one ever taught you not to run in front of someone else's attack?! Or at least to practice some caution with the placement of your own strikes?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ruby scoffed.

"I'm just surprised that someone who talked so much, would communicate so little during an encounter. I can't hear your thoughts you know!" the heiress exclaimed.

"Well, I'm sorry you need help to win a fight. I can do just fine on my own." Ruby huffed, crossing her arms.

"Then congratulations on being the strongest child to sneak into Beacon." Weiss retorted sarcastically, turning her back to Ruby, throwing her arms in the air. "Bravo."

On would usually punch something, or stomp on the ground to release pent up aggression. Not Ruby though. No, she unfurled Crescent Rose and sliced clean through a poor innocent tree, causing it to crash onto the ground.

However, as she did, a giant black feather floated down to the ground. And as it stands, even the skies aren't clear of Grimm.

In another part of the Emerald Forest, Jaune and Pyrrha were trying to find their way to the abandoned temple. But as they stepped into a clearing, they heard some bushes rustling, coupled with an explosion off into the distance.

"Did you hear that?" Jaune looked into the direction he thought the explosion came from.

"Gunfire" Pyrrha revealed. "It seems some of our comrades have encountered the enemy." she said, moving a branch out of her way. But since, Jaune was a step behind her, the Jaune snapped back and whipped Jaune across the face, sending him on his behind.

"Agh..oww" he rubbed his face.

"Oh, sorry Jaune!" Pyrrha apologized again. Standing back up, Jaune shrugged his shoulders.

"Eh, it's fine. Just a scratch" he said, an actual scratch plastered on his cheek.

"Why didn't you activate your Aura?" his partner asked confused. Equally confused, was Jaune.

"My, what now?"

"Your Aura." she clarified. But, it didn't ring any bells with the blonde. "Do you, know what Aura is, Jaune?" she asked, seeing his constant confused face.

"Of course I do" he scoffed "...Do you know what Aura is?" he asked, trying to shift the direction of the question. Seeing he didn't actually know, Pyrrha elaborated.

"Aura, is the manifestation of our soul. It bears our burdens, and shield us from outside harm. With practice, Aura can be our shield. Everyone has it. Even animals."

"What about monsters?" Jaune asked.

"No, the monster we fight have no soul. They are creatures of Grimm." she explained. "They are the manifestation of anonymity. The are the darkness, and we are the light."

"Right. So, that's why we fight them." the blonde concluded.

"It's not about why, it's about knowing. Understanding both light and dark, helps us manifest our Aura. Everyone has some of both." she explained. "By bearing your soul outward as a force, you can deflect harm. All of our tools and equipment are our conduits for Aura. You project yourself, and your soul when fighting.

"So it's like a force field!" Jaune exclaimed enthusiastically.

"Yes, if you want to look at it that way." the spartan chuckled. "Now, close your eyes and concentrate." she instructed, placing her hand on Jaune's cheek. Although a little awkwardly, he did as instructed, while Pyrrha closed her own eyes.

"...For it is in passing that we achieve immortality." she began reciting, as her body glowed a hue of red, while Jaune glowed white. "Through this we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite by distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee." she finished, placing her hands on her knees due to exhaustion.

"Pyrrha?" Jaune asked worried.

"It's fine. I used my aura to unlock yours, but the energy that protects you know is your own." she explained, raising back to her feet. Then, she smirked as she saw Jaune's cut regenerate instantly. "You have a lot of it."

"Wow." he marveled, as the white hue around his body disappeared.

"Hmm, would you look at that" Ozpin remarked, sipping from his mug, as he watched Pyrrha unlock Jaune's Aura. "It looks like there really is some hidden potential in Mr. Arc after all."

"I'm afraid it will be of no use if a Grimm bites a chunk out of him before he can activate his Aura." Glynda remarked from the side, watching the rest of the camera's.

"That's what we're here for Glynda. To train them" Ozpin explained. "That is what we dedicate the first year for after all."

Before Glynda could respond however, another voice resounded from behind them.

"It takes more than a year to become a warrior Oz."

"I'm well aware Garnet" Ozpin said, turning to look behind them. And, true to the call, Garnet himself was making his way toward the two teachers.

His current attire consisted of a black coat with red inside and cuffs. On the jacket, a black hood was clipped, which was currently raised on Garnet's head. His brown leather gloves were replaced by custom made black gloves, tightened to his wrist by a metal buckle. His black jeans were tucked in his knee height boots. To his side, a black scabbard was strapped, holding a sword with a black and red handle. But, most of this wasn't actually visible, as Garnet was wearing a red cloak, which hung down to the ground.

"Garnet? Weren't you…?" Glynda was slightly confused at the appearance.

"Confused eh? That's the whole purpose." he grinned, going to their side, overlooking the cliff.

"But, if you're here, what's the bird doing?" she asked, alternating between Garnet and the camera footage.

"It's job" Garnet replied blankly. "If anything goes downhill, I'll still know."

"The students have been told no instructor will intervene" Ozpin said. "They should exert more caution than normal."

"Then please explain why the Emerald Forest is turning into the Crimson Bonfire." Garnet deadpanned, pointing at the smoke raising from the Forest. Opening his eyes wide, Ozpin snapped his head in the direction, quickly checking his Scroll for camera footage.

"Let's just say Ruby and Weiss are starting off on the wrong foot." the midnight haired Hunter said, sweatdropping at the rising smoke. "We have to do something about that fire though. We can't have the entire forest burning down."

"Aren't you worried about the students getting trapped in there?" Glynda sweatdropped.

"You catapulted them off a cliff" Garnet deadpanned in return. "They managed to enter the forest safely, so I trust them to at least be able to exit the forest safely."

Plopping down on the side of the cliff, Garnet reached behind him, and presented the silver Scroll to Ozpin.

"Had one more look around that. 'Fraid there's nothing else hidden in there." he explained.

"I see" Ozpin mumbled, as he grabbed the Scroll and placed it in his back pocket. "We'll have to keep tabs on him. To make sure he won't try anything, at least until the students enter their second year."

"I made sure to trash both him, and his research facility. It'll be a while before he can start researching again." Garnet explained, pulling his own Scroll out. He then tapped a few times, pulling up a map of Remnant.

"What are you doing Garnet?" Glynda asked curiously, seeing Garnet tinker around on his scroll.

"Preparing for that mission you told me about" he answered simply. Raising an eyebrow, Ozpin looked at Garnet.

"The mission? You aren't going to go on that mission for a while to come. Why start preparing so early?"

"I wasn't talking about that petty bandit village. I was talking about Raven." he elaborated.

"Are you trying to pinpoint her location?" the blonde teacher asked, keeping an eye on the camera footage. However, Garnet shook his head.

"Just trying to find the general area she's most likely to be in. I don't need any more than that" he explained.

"How do you even plan to approach her?" the headmaster asked. Looking up form his Scroll, Garnet glanced at Ozpin.

"I have my ways..." he said mysteriously. He then abruptly put his Scroll back, and focused back on the forest, where some gunfire could be heard. "Looks like things are about to go down." he stood up, noticing a certain black spot in the distance.

Taking a look at her scroll, Glynda nodded, before turning back to Garnet.

"Are you going to intervene?" she asked, as Garnet adjusted his cloak.

"Only if their lives are really in danger" he said seriously. "Tai of course focuses more on Yang, while Qrow took Ruby under his wing. I'll make sure to look after them **both**. I'm through with thing I care about…!"

A with that, Garnet stepped off the cliff, letting himself fall down toward the Emerald Forest. And as he did, he became enveloped in a mixture of black petals and feathers, before they were carried by the wind toward the ongoing action.

Up on the cliff, Ozpin and Glynda watched on as the cloud of black made it's way to the northern end of the forest.

"He's truly keeping true to his word. No longer taking any kind of risk..." Glynda mumbled, checking her camera footage once again, taking a look at the formed teams.

"If you in his shoes, would you still take risks, knowing someone's safety is at stake. Especially someone close?" Ozpin asked, sipping his hot cocoa.

"It really left a mark on him didn't it…?"

"Losing the one person you cared most about, leaves deep scars Glynda" Ozpin explained knowingly. "To be honest, I'm amazed he still has the will to go on. Not only that, but his will to protect those who remained, only increased. Garnet, is someone I can call a true warrior."

"But sir, you still can't ignore how dangerous his own power is getting. His desire to protect, is making him amass more and more power. There's only so much a single person can take" Glynda expressed concern. "Most importantly, what if he turns on us?" she said seriously.

"He is probably the only Hunter, who can go up against a Maiden, all on his own. If he somehow falls into the wrong hands-"

"He won't Glynda." Ozpin declared. "He's amassing all of this power, specifically to fight against them. I trust Garnet with my life. You of all people, should trust him more too." he looked at the teacher.

"He may still be susceptible to brain control..." she mumbled. Hearing it, Ozpin chuckled.

"That's what he'd like them to think" he said "You've witnessed what he's capable of. Knowing that, do you truly believe he would allow someone else to control him?"

With that question said, Glynda remained quiet. She released a breath, before returning her attention back to the camera footage. With that, the teachers descended back into silence, observing the students performance, now as they stared danger in the eye.

 **And that's a wrap!**

 **Not really much to say about this chapter. Been a little while since last chapter, so I may have gotten a little rusty..**

 **But ignoring that, I tried making this chapter similar to the last one. Half original interaction, half original by me. And with that out of the way, let's get to the final points.**

 **Next chapter will continue on from where this left off. AKA, the rest of the initiation. With some changes.**

 **So, since I have nothing else to say at the moment…**

 **Hope you enjoyed, tell me what you thought of the chapter and I'll see you on the next one, whenever that comes out~**

 **Seeya~**


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